Big Brother 5 (MATT DB) is the fifth season in the series by MATT DB. It features 16 houseguests competing to win Big Brother and the $500,000 cash prize that comes with it. Each week, one houseguest will nominate two others for eviction, where the House will vote to evict one of its own. This continues until only one houseguest remains to claim the half-million dollar prize.

Contents

Gameplay

Head of Household: Each week, one houseguest will win the title of Head of Household (HOH for short). His or her duty is to nominate two houseguests for eviction. This power cannot be won two rounds in a row.

Eviction: At the end of each week, the houseguests that are not nominated for eviction (minus the HOH) will vote to evict one of the nominees. The nominee that receives the most votes will be evicted from the Big Brother House. If there is a tie, the Head of Household will break it.

Power of Veto: After the Head of Household makes his or her nominations, six houseguests (the HOH, the two nominees, and three houseguests chosen by random draw) will compete for the Golden Power of Veto. The houseguest that wins the Power of Veto has the option of saving one of the nominees from the block - including themselves.

Jury of Nine: The last nine houseguests to be evicted from the game will make up the Big Brother jury, which will vote for one member of the final two to win the game.

Haves & Have-Nots: Each week, a few houseguests will be named "Have-Nots" and will only be able to eat slop, can only take cold showers, and must sleep in the uncomfortable Have-Not bedroom.

Twists

Double Eviction: At least once during the season, a second round will take place immediately after the live eviction. This means that two houseguests will leave the House during this week. As always, an outgoing Head of Household cannot compete in the HOH competition during this additional round.

Returning Juror: At some point during the jury phase of the season, one of the previously evicted jurors will return to the House.

Safety HOH: Each week after the HOH competition, there will be a special competition for the title of Safety HOH. The winner of this optional competition will be safe for the week and will select two other houseguests to also have safety for the week. The HOH is ineligible to compete for Safety HOH.

Safety Nominee: The houseguest who places last in the Safety HOH competition will become the Safety Nominee (similar to the Temptation Nominee from Big Brother US 19). Because of this, the Safety Nominee cannot be given safety by the Safety HOH or be nominated by the HOH. If the Power of Veto is used on this nominee, there will not be a replacement.

Story

Week 1

Episode 1 (Premiere/HOH)

Matt, the host of Big Brother, welcomes the audience to yet another fantastic and exciting season of Big Brother. The audience cheers thunderously, eager for more fast-paced strategy, betrayals, and friendships. He promises an eclectic and dramatic cast before introducing the houseguests, who all find their keys while doing everyday activities.

Mark wants to play intelligently and under-the-radar instead of being flashy and making resume-padding “big moves”. Olivia thinks that her natural charm and personality will help her make it through the game. Reese believes that he can let the big threats take each other out to make it far. Marina plans on being the person that the houseguests will want to hang out with - just by having fun. Scott wants to dominate the competitions until he’s the last one left. Jenna tells the audience that she is smart and cunning, which will help her out in the game. Paul says that he’s a funny guy, which will surely help him make it far. He then cracks a terrible pun, causing the audience to groan. Summer thinks that she’s well-rounded - physically, strategically, and socially - which will make her win. Hayden just wants to have a good time, while Eliza wants to be part of an alliance. Cole thinks his strong build will help him both physically and socially, while Veronica wants to lead strategically. Joshua is excited for the opportunity as a superfan of the game, thinking his knowledge of Big Brother will give him an advantage. Ashley is not here for BS, saying that she’s vocal and determined. Luke is looking for love in the House, admitting that he hasn’t been in a relationship for over a year. The final houseguest is Irene, who wants to be underestimated by the other houseguests so they don’t see her coming.

Matt welcomes the sixteen houseguests to a brand new season of Big Brother, wishing all of them the best of luck. He then says the names of the first five houseguests who’ll enter: Ashley, Mark, Joshua, Luke, & Eliza. The five of them are all stoked to be the first to enter, quickly rushing inside. They introduce themselves quickly to each other, with Eliza marveling on actually being inside the Big Brother House. Joshua rolls his eyes, already finding Eliza annoying. He heads up the stairs with Ashley and Mark to find a bedroom. Luke follows them, wanting to get a spot in the best bedroom; as he walks in, he sees Joshua already initiating a strategic discussion with Ashley and Mark. He asks if he should go, but Joshua tells him to sit down. In the bedroom, Joshua tells Ashley, Luke, and Mark that he wants Eliza gone first and asks for their help in getting rid of her. In the DR, Ashley complains about Joshua, finding it strange (and irritating) that he would campaign against somebody when there are still eleven people that haven’t even entered the House. She, along with Luke and Mark (who are thinking similar things), holds her tongue, not wanting to piss somebody off within the first ten minutes. During this fiasco, Eliza finds another bedroom and sets her bag down, stating in the DR that it’s been her dream to play Big Brother for many years.

The next six houseguests are invited inside: Olivia, Paul, Reese, Summer, Cole, & Scott. The six of them all rush in excitedly, ready to meet the first five and (hopefully) get a nice bed to sleep on. As they head in, Joshua hears them and rushes downstairs, followed tentatively by Ashley, Mark, and Luke. As they walk, Mark whispers “he’s gone first, right?” into Ashley’s ear; all she does is nod, confirming that she also wants to get rid of Joshua. Paul and Scott immediately get along well with each other, bantering back and forth. Ashley and Olivia find the two of them really funny, but Luke and Summer both rant about how annoying they are. Mark and Reese also chat a lot, clearly getting along. In the DR, Cole states that he’s ready for whatever Big Brother has to throw at him, promising to be the last one left. Eliza shows the new arrivals to the second bedroom, which only has a few beds left. Olivia, Reese, and Scott put their bags down; Paul, Summer, and Cole worry that they might not get beds. In the DR, Summer says she really hopes she doesn’t have to share a room with Paul, who she defines as an attention whore. However, she’s not opposed to spending time with Cole, who she thinks is a 10/10 in the looks department. The trio eventually finds the third bedroom, and Paul cracks another horrible pun, but this time an offensive one. In the DR, Cole states that he’s already about 2 seconds away from socking Paul in the face.

Finally, the last few houseguests head in: Hayden, Jenna, Marina, Veronica, & Irene. They excitedly yet nervously head inside, hoping that the other houseguests haven’t already formed alliances. Marina and Irene chat each other up right away, clearly getting along. As they do so, Summer tells the five new arrivals that there’s only one bed left, asking if anyone wants to claim it. Wanting to be nice, Hayden, Jenna, and Veronica don’t claim it right away. Jenna politely interrupts the conversation between Marina and Irene, asking if one of them wants the last bed. Irene tells Jenna not to interrupt her before continuing; in the DR, Jenna says that Irene is the most stuck-up bitch on the planet and hopes that her rude ass leaves first. Marina apologizes for Irene before saying that she would love to have the bed if everyone’s fine with it. Everybody nods, so Marina gracefully places her bag down on the bed before heading back downstairs. Irene looks upset to not have a bed, so Marina tells her that they can share. In the DR, Irene says that she has lived 51 years without ever having to share a bed, and she doesn’t want to start now. The other new arrivals also find people willing to share: Ashley offers to share her bed with Jenna, Cole for Hayden, and Summer for Veronica. In the DR, Hayden says that Cole is really attractive, so he’s more than happy to be sharing a bed with him.

With the lodging finally figured out, the houseguests begin the introductions in the living room. Hayden stands out really positively, with a lot of houseguests thinking he’s the sweetest guy on Earth. Ashley is seen as a really fun person who many of the houseguests want to hang out with while in the House. Summer and Veronica are also well-liked by most of the House. Not all of the houseguests are seen in a good light, though; Paul continues to annoy some of the houseguests by constantly making unfunny jokes, while Scott makes very distasteful “jokes”, one of which leaving Summer visibly fuming. Irene is seen as irritating and rude by a lot of the women in the House. Once the introductions are over, Matt conveniently comes onto the screen.

The houseguests quickly quiet down, hanging onto every word Matt says so that they don’t miss any subtle clues he drops. Matt tells them all that the first Head of Household competition will commence shortly, but, until then, they will have a few hours to get to know their fellow houseguests a bit better. Matt hints that being close with key houseguests could be their saving grace before the screen shuts off, leaving the houseguests confused by the cryptic message. In the DR, Eliza states that she’s ready to fight her ass off in the HOH competition, fearful that there will be an opening eviction based on Matt’s comment about “saving grace”.

Quickly, Joshua gathers Ashley, Luke, Mark, Paul, Jenna, Scott, Cole, Reese, and Hayden in one of the bedrooms. There, he suggests that the ten of them form an alliance for the first few weeks to pick off the other six. Jenna looks around the room, noticing that literally every man in the House is in the room, and immediately knows that she’s not having any part of the “alliance”. In the DR, she states that almost always, in all-male alliances with one or two females, that female is on the bottom. Scott seems very on board with the alliance, telling the entire group that Summer needs to go first. When Cole asks him why, he sharply states that she is a total bitch and clearly doesn’t like any of them. Cole leans over to Hayden and whispers “there’s no way in Hell I’m joining this alliance” to him; he nods back, giggling a little bit at Scott’s attempt to get the giant alliance organized. Paul says that the ten of them can easily make it to the final ten, where they can duke it out between them all at that point. The group disperses, with only Joshua, Paul, and Scott seeming to be on board with the idea.

Ashley and Jenna discuss the huge majority alliance that Joshua tried to form, with Ashley telling Jenna that she’s never heard of a more stupid idea in her life. Jenna laughs, saying that she’d rather die than form an alliance with Joshua especially. Ashley gives an exasperated sigh, telling Jenna about how Joshua tried to get her on board with a plan to evict Eliza when there were only five houseguests in the House. Jenna laughs at Joshua’s overplaying, telling Ashley that she will do anything in her power to see him leave the game first.

To get the ball rolling, Ashley and Jenna find Eliza and Olivia, who are discussing how amazing it is to be in the Big Brother House. Ashley is blunt, telling Eliza that Joshua tried to get her, Luke, and Mark on board to get rid of Eliza first before any of the other houseguests had entered. Eliza rolls her eyes, calling Joshua a total piece of sh*t and echoing the desire to have him go home first. Olivia also mentions being annoyed by Joshua’s behavior, additionally mentioning Paul and Scott as awful. Finding themselves all on the same page, the four women decide to form an agreement to keep each other safe for the time being.

Elsewhere, Cole, Luke, and Hayden fill Summer and Veronica in on the alliance that Joshua, Paul, and Scott tried to include them in; specifically, they tell Summer that the trio wanted her out, calling her a “total bitch”. Summer scoffs, saying that she has barely even spoken to any of them. Veronica tells the group of five that they need to make sure that none of those three men win HOH, as they’ll only wreak havoc if they do. They all promise to each other to do their best to win the competition, fearing the repercussions of a Joshua, Paul, or Scott HOH reign. In the DR, Luke raves about Veronica, calling her “gorgeous” and hoping that his feelings for her are reciprocated.

Mark and Reese also talk about the strange alliance, not wanting anything to do with the three instigators. Mark immediately promises Reese an alliance, feeling that the two of them have connected really well so far. Reese agrees, feeling like the two of them will do some real damage in the House. The two guys fist-bump, preparing themselves for the upcoming HOH competition.

As Marina and Irene are talking about their lives back home, Matt comes onto the screen, resulting in an excited squeal from Marina. Hearing the squeal, the other houseguests return from their Joshua-Paul-Scott smack-talking fests to hear whatever Matt has to say. Matt tells them two things: one, that the first Head of Household competition is coming up and two, that there will be two HOHs each week - but one of them will be decided later and will fill a different role. All of the houseguests are shocked, worrying what the twist may entail, before heading outside to compete in the first Head of Household competition of the season. In the end, Cole wins the competition by a healthy margin, becoming the first HOH of Big Brother 5.

Episode 2 (Safety HOH/Nominations)

Cole is ecstatic to be the first Head of Household of the season, especially because of Matt’s vague hints regarding the season’s twists. He speculates in the DR what the twist may entail - two HOHs, one of which serves a different role than the main one? All Cole knows is that he needs somebody he trusts to become that second HOH. As he gets settled in his new HOH bedroom, Hayden heads upstairs to talk with him. Hayden simply tells Cole that he trusts him a lot, hoping that Cole will reciprocate that trust. Cole tells Hayden that there’s no way he’ll nominate him, feeling that they have gotten along really well so far - better than with anybody else. They make a promise to keep each other off the block for as long as possible. As Hayden turns to leave, Cole tells him to stop, asking him if he has any ideas on targets. Hayden says that he was really weirded out by the alliance that Joshua, Paul, and Scott tried to form the previous day, hoping that one of those three can go home. Cole agrees wholeheartedly with Hayden, feeling that getting rid of one of those three would be better for the entire House.

Elsewhere, Luke, Summer, and Veronica talk about their feelings with Cole as the HOH. Summer says she isn’t very surprised that Cole won the competition, citing his strong build. However, she also says that she feels comfortable with Cole as the HOH, since he seems like a nice guy and he’s talked with the three of them before. Hayden soon joins their conversation after his talk with Cole. Veronica asks him if he talked with Cole; Hayden tells the group that Cole expressed desire to get rid of Joshua, Paul, or Scott. Veronica says “thank God” almost a bit too loud, which makes Luke laugh. Luke looks at the three people sitting with him, saying that he gets really good vibes from all of them. The others all agree, and they decide that it would be for the best if they all formed an alliance. Hayden says that he’s talked with Cole a lot, so he could be an affiliate for the group; Summer mentions having spoken to Marina as well. Veronica is excited about this, expressing her love for Marina due to how sweet she is. The four allies come up with an alliance handshake before heading their separate ways to avoid suspicion from the House.

It’s too late, though, because Olivia was spying on their entire conversation. Although she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she saw their handshake and knew that they must have formed an alliance. She’s quick to report this information back to Ashley, Eliza, and Jenna, worrying that the alliance she saw form could come to dominate the game eventually. Ashley says that they shouldn’t worry about them now; after all, Cole is likely going after Joshua, Paul, and Scott. Jenna agrees, telling the group that they should wait to go after that group until one of them (Ashey/Eliza/Jenna/Olivia) wins an HOH.

The houseguests are called into the living room for a special announcement. Cole knows immediately that this will have something to do with the “second HOH” that Matt mentioned at the start of the game. Once they all gather, Matt tells the House that, each week, there will be three competitions: HOH, POV, and a new competition called the Safety HOH. In this competition, the winning houseguest will be granted the title of Safety HOH and cannot be nominated. In addition, he or she can name two other houseguests to also be safe. A lot of the houseguests nod, glad that there’s a last-ditch way to earn safety. Cole, however, is worried that Joshua, Paul, or Scott will win and ruin his plans for the week.

Matt notices the houseguests’ happy faces and tells them that it’s not all good news. He then reveals that the competition is optional, and for one big reason: whoever places last in the competition will automatically become a nominee alongside the HOH’s two nominees. This makes a lot of the houseguests nervous, realizing that there’s a legitimate risk and reward with the new competition. Before the competition begins, Matt asks if any houseguests would like to opt out. Since the game just began and nobody is sure of their position, nobody decides against playing for Safety HOH. With that, all of the houseguests except for the HOH (Cole) head outside for the first Safety HOH competition of the season. Olivia ends up placing last, while her ally Eliza wins the first Safety HOH of the season.

Immediately, Eliza is asked to save two houseguests from eviction. She is unsure if she should save her allies or try to make new ones, but she ultimately goes with her gut and saves Ashley and Jenna. The two women hug her tightly, while Olivia pretends to look happy. In reality, though, she is crushed that she has to be on the block because of the new twist. Cole, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to care at all, since Eliza’s decision doesn’t affect his plan whatsoever. Before the houseguests disperse, Olivia is told that it’s not all bad news for her. For one, if the POV is used on her, there will be no replacement nominee. She is also told that, as the Safety Nominee, she can name five houseguests to be Have-Nots for the week. Olivia is quick to choose Joshua, Paul, Scott, Marina, and Irene as the Have-Nots, not offering an explanation. Marina seems to accept it in stride, but the others are pissed off to have been selected, swearing revenge on Olivia for her decision. Irene is especially mad, not wanting to spend any time at all with Joshua, Paul, or Scott, who she is afraid she might murder by the time the week is over.

Marina and Irene talk with Summer and Veronica about what just occurred, with Irene clearly pissed off at being chosen as a Have-Not. She wonders what she did to deserve being chosen by that “ugly b*tch”, a comment that makes Marina visibly cringe. In the DR, Marina admits that she’s starting to get a bit annoyed with Irene’s constant negativity, but she’s confident that Irene is just a little mad about being a Have-Not and her mood will certainly improve. Summer is also weirded out by the exchange, wondering how badly it must have hurt Irene to have a stick shoved so far up her ass. Veronica encourages the two women to talk more with Olivia so that they can be on the same page, as having beef in Big Brother is never helpful. Marina agrees, but Irene seems adamant on hating Olivia without getting to know her. In the DR, she complains about how some of the women in the House are so jealous of her that they feel the need to make her life a living hell.

Ashley, Eliza, and Jenna provide support for Olivia, promising her that there’s no chance she will go home. To make sure, though, they encourage her to speak with Cole about his plan for the nominations. Olivia heads up to the HOH room, where Cole expresses his sorrow that she ended up as the Safety Nominee. Olivia says that it’s okay, but that’s she’s a little worried about going home. After all, it’s the first week and nobody knows what could happen. Cole agrees, but tells Olivia that his plan is to get rid of Scott specifically, seeing him as the ringleader (and most annoying member) of his little trio with Joshua and Paul. He tells Olivia about a giant ten-person alliance that the three tried to form; Olivia tells him that words spreads fast in the House - she heard about the alliance almost immediately after it was formed. Cole is glad that the two of them are on the same page before promising Olivia that he’ll try to get her taken off the block once the POV competition occurs. In the DR, Olivia confesses that Cole is a real stand-up guy, admitting that she feels a little more secure now thanks to his promise regarding the POV.

Cole calls Mark and Reese up to the HOH room as the nominations approach, asking them their opinions on who should go up. Reese doesn’t seem to care as long as two of Joshua, Paul, and Scott are put up. Cole does say that he’s leaning on targeting Scott first; Mark suggests Joshua as the other nominee, since he seems like the least hated one in their alliance and thus would probably stay against Scott, while Paul has the potential to be evicted instead.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Cole explains how the ceremony will work. He has two keys placed in the Nomination Box. He will turn the first key, which will reveal the identity of his first nominee. He will then turn the second key, revealing the other nominee. Due to the Safety Competition, Ashley, Eliza, and Jenna are all immune, while Olivia is automatically nominated. Cole turns his first key, revealing Scott’s face. Scott is shocked, honestly believing that Cole would go through with the alliance they formed, before sitting down on the nomination couch. The second key is then turned, revealing Joshua’s face. Joshua is pissed to be nominated and at Cole’s blatant betrayal. Cole explains that he finds the two men untrustworthy and that everyone else in the House wanted them on the block. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 3 (POV)

Scott goes off on Cole, yelling at him for making such a dumb decision. He asks him why he went against the alliance, trying to out the deal that everyone in the House already knows about. Cole doesn’t fight back, just stating that he went with what everybody else in the House wanted. When Scott begs Cole to tell him who specifically targeted him, Cole repeats himself: everybody. Scott scoffs and storms out of the room, pissed off at the entire House for putting him on the bottom. Joshua looks on in horror, telling Paul that he thinks Scott’s gone too far. Paul agrees, but reminds Joshua that it’s important that they all stick together with the rest of the House targeting them.

Scott continues to storm around the House, eventually walking into a random bedroom and slamming the door. Inside, he sees Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, and Olivia talking about the nomination ceremony. Their conversation awkwardly stops when he storms in, though. Scott apologizes, stating that he’s really pissed off about Cole betraying him and needs to avoid everybody. Jenna tells Scott that none of the four of them named him as a target, feeling that Cole’s argument about “everybody” wanting him out is an exaggeration. Scott tells the four women that he wants to get rid of Cole as soon as possible out of revenge. Eliza smirks to herself before telling Scott that his anger towards Cole is misdirected. When Scott asks what she means, Eliza hints that there’s an alliance in the House that is controlling Cole’s nominations. He asks her angrily who this alliance consists of; she says that she’s already said too much. Jenna buts in, saying that she thinks Marina and Irene are partly responsible, as are Luke and Veronica. However, Jenna is sure to implicate Irene more than the others to try and turn the House against her. Scott thanks Jenna and her allies for the information, promises to do what he can to keep them safe in later weeks, and leaves the room in a hurry. Ashley congratulates Eliza and Jenna for their performance, feeling like they’ve earned Scott’s trust down the line. Olivia asks her why it matters, since Scott should be going home this week. Ashley simply states that she isn’t so sure if that will happen - at least, not on her watch.

Scott pulls Joshua and Paul aside, relaying to them what the four ladies told him earlier. Joshua says that he isn’t so sure if they should trust information from Eliza; Scott tells him to shove it, arguing that Eliza’s info makes a lot of sense. After all, Luke and Veronica seem to talk a lot with Irene and Marina and very little with the three of them. Paul believes that Summer is probably involved as well, noticing how close she is with Veronica. The trio decides that they need to work with Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, and Olivia, since the four of them are also clearly not fond of the House’s hierarchy. Also, Scott urges his allies to not direct their anger at the situation towards Cole, who he believes is just a puppet of a greater force within the House. In the DR, Joshua says that it’s liberating to have some knowledge on the House dynamics, but it doesn’t matter too much if he remains on the block alongside Scott and Olivia.

In the HOH room, Hayden, Luke, Summer, and Veronica all congratulate Cole on his nomination speech, glad that he tore Joshua and Scott to shreds. Cole tells the four that it really wasn’t a problem, confessing that their annoying behavior has almost driven him over the edge. Summer is glad to hear this, stating aloud that she feels really good with everybody in the room. Little does Cole know - the four others already have an alliance together, but that doesn’t stop them from offering a five-person one with him. Cole is on board with the idea, and the five make a promise to become the final five.

Cole decides that he’s spent enough time holed up in his HOH bedroom, instead spending time in the backyard. He chills with Hayden, Mark, and Reese, and the four talk about their lives back home. Mark tells the group that, even though it’s only been a few days, he already misses his wife and kids, wishing he could see them soon. Cole relates to this, telling the group that he might lose it if he doesn’t see his girlfriend soon. In the DR, Hayden expresses his disappointment that Cole has a girlfriend, realizing that his Big Brother crush won’t ever amount to anything. Reese encourages his friends to power through, reminding them that it’s a long game ahead - too long to start missing family week one. Mark realizes that Reese is right, but argues that the boredom in the House - even with sixteen houseguests scurrying around at every moment - has made him think a lot about his life. The three other men all agree, finding Big Brother to be a good time to reflect on life - especially since there isn’t much else to do without TV and Internet.

Irene and Marina talk with Summer about Scott, hearing that he’s been blaming the two of them for somehow causing his nomination. Summer is confused by the claim, knowing that she and her allies were the ones that pushed Cole to make the nominations he made. Irene believes that other houseguests might be throwing her under the bus to try and ruin their games, immediately blaming “that bitch” Jenna. Summer asks Irene what she means; Irene explains that Jenna is a jealous shrew that wishes she was her. Marina looks visibly uncomfortable during this conversation, clearly not happy to be involved with the s***talking that’s going on. Summer states honestly that Irene might have the wrong image of Jenna and that she should talk with her before making grand assumptions. Marina suddenly states that she feels a little overheated, heading outside for a dip in the pool. In the DR, Marina tells the audience that she initially aligned with Irene because she reached out to her right away, but she regrets sticking by her more and more each passing day. Marina swims in the pool, deciding to playfully splash Reese. In retaliation, Reese cannonballs right next to her, getting her very wet. Soon, Cole, Hayden, Mark, Veronica, Ashley, and Jenna are all engaged in an all-out splash war with Marina and Reese. In the DR, Veronica says that she is glad that a lot of the House got to have fun together without worrying about nominations or evictions.

Each week, two houseguests will be selected by random draw to join the HOH, their two nominees, and the Safety Nominee in competing for the golden Power of Veto. At the Veto Player Pick, Cole draws his own name, letting him choose a competitor; he chooses Luke. Cole then draws Jenna’s name, making her the sixth competitor. They, along with Cole (the HOH) and Joshua, Scott, and Olivia (the nominees), compete in the first Power of Veto competition of the season. In the end, Cole manages to win the Power of Veto, granting himself full power for the week.

Eliza and Olivia celebrate the victory with Cole, banking on his promise that he’ll use the Veto to take Olivia off the block, leaving just Joshua and Scott as the nominees. However, just to make sure, Olivia asks Cole what his plan is. Cole states that he doesn’t want to get any more blood on his hands, so it would be in his best interest to take Olivia off the block and keep his original nominations intact. Olivia agrees that the plan is smart (mostly because she’ll be safe), wishing Cole the best of luck on the remainder of his HOH. In the DR, Olivia expresses just how relieved she is that Cole was the winner of the competition - even though she was on the block against two people hated by the House, she still didn’t feel fully secure.

Joshua, Paul, and Scott are a lot more disappointed in the result than Olivia is, feeling like it will be impossible to convince Cole to use the POV on either Joshua or Scott; even if they did manage to convince him, whoever wasn’t saved would likely go home anyways. That is, unless Irene was the replacement nominee. Paul realizes that, if they can convince Cole to target Irene instead, there’s a chance that they’ll all be able to stay for another week. Scott wastes no time, heading up to the HOH room to try to change Cole’s mind.

Cole is obviously not very receptive to the idea of strategizing with Scott, but decides to hear him out anyways. Scott argues that Irene has been a very sneaky player and is spreading rumors behind people’s backs to advance her own game. Cole doesn’t recall Irene spreading any rumors, but does see her as an annoying bitch, so he actually considers getting rid of her. Scott gives another convincing argument - he will always be a target, but Irene could easily slip under the radar since she isn’t really seen as a physical threat. Although Scott makes it clear that getting rid of Irene would be a more personal move, he says that’s the same reasoning that caused him to be targeted. In the DR, Cole says that he’s surprised by how convincing Scott is, wondering if it would be a good idea to get rid of Irene now before she can cause damage. However, he’s a bit hesitant, since Irene is close with Marina, who is close with a lot of Cole’s allies.

At the Veto Ceremony, Cole ultimately decides to use the Power of Veto on Olivia, the Safety Nominee. Since Olivia was the Safety Nominee, no replacement nominee is named; this leaves Joshua and Scott as the final nominees for the week. Scott is disappointed in Cole’s decision, but says that his game isn’t over until he walks out the door.

Episode 4 Part 1 (Eviction)

After the Veto Ceremony, Joshua gets pissed this time, storming out of the room instantly. Scott is a bit more understanding, hugging Cole and thanking him for at least considering using the Veto on him. Cole is legitimately shocked at Scott’s sudden turnaround, wondering if it’s an act to stay or if Scott is truly thankful. In the DR, Scott says that he tried to save himself through Cole, so now he’ll need to do so through the vote. He says that he likes Joshua, but that doesn’t matter anymore - he needs to throw him under the bus hardcore in order to survive.

Scott and Paul meet with Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, and Olivia, discussing how to make sure that Joshua is evicted instead of Scott. Jenna points out that everybody in the room already makes up 5 of the 13 votes at eviction; they only need to flip two people to get a majority. Ashley says that Irene and Marina seem to really dislike Scott, so they’re quickly ruled out. Hayden and Summer are also quickly ruled out, with many seeing them as too close to Cole to go against his wishes. That leaves Luke, Mark, Reese, and Veronica as potential candidates for a flip. However, Scott seems fairly adamant that Luke and Veronica won’t flip, seeing them as similarly close with Cole. With that, the group of six decides to try to get Mark and Reese to flip.

Paul decides to talk with Mark, asking him what he thinks about the eviction. Mark tells him that he’s leaning on voting Scott, since it seems like the entire House is already voting for him. While Paul does state that it seems the majority is for evicting Scott, he also states that he’s managed to get a few people to vote for Joshua instead. He says that there are a few other houseguests that find Joshua’s behavior of forming millions of alliances and throwing people under the bus far more annoying than Scott’s bad sense of humor. Mark agrees, but tells Paul that he doesn’t want to vote Joshua out unless he’s sure that a majority of the votes will go Joshua’s way. Paul tells Mark two things: one, if he saves Scott, he can pull him in as a number since Scott will feel indebted to him and two, Mark only needs to convince Reese to flip for there to be a majority against Joshua. Mark finds this fact intriguing, agreeing that Scott does seem more impressionable than the dishonest Joshua.

Mark relays the information he heard from Paul to Reese, and the two discuss if voting Joshua out is the better move. Reese loves the sound of pulling Scott in as an ally, believing that Joshua wouldn’t be nearly as willing or trustworthy if he stayed. He specifically points out the fact that Scott has been acting really nice towards Cole despite Cole targeting him, which Reese believes is uncharacteristic of Scott. This proves that Scott must be really desperate to stay, feeling that he would latch onto the two of them if they saved him. Mark and Reese feel strongly that Joshua needs to go instead of Scott, ultimately deciding that they need to keep Scott in.

Cole, Hayden, Irene, Luke, Marina, Mark, Reese, Summer, and Veronica discuss the vote as well, feeling that it will be cut-and-dry: Scott is going home. Luke feels that Ashley and Paul might vote for Joshua instead, since he heard Ashley complain about Joshua on the first day and Paul seems closer to Scott than to Joshua. However, all of the 11 other votes will probably go towards Scott, which Irene states is well-deserved. Cole thanks them all for helping the HOH week be so smooth, shocked that there wasn’t all that much drama besides Scott being pissed off as a result of the nominations. Marina feels that the positivity in the game should continue until the end, very optimistic for the weeks to come. Irene tells the group that, once Joshua, Paul, and Scott are all gone, they need to set their sights on Ashley and Jenna, who seem really antagonistic towards the other houseguests. In the DR, Mark laughs at this remark, finding Irene’s constant smack-talking to be far more antagonistic than anything Ashley or Jenna has ever done. Irene’s hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness makes Mark want to vote Joshua out even more just to spite her and the rest of her “allies” - who all actually hate her guts.

As time goes on, the large “majority” group gradually leaves the room, but Mark and Reese stay in the HOH room with Cole. Once everybody else is gone, the pair tells Cole that they’ve flipped and are voting for Joshua. They apologize for going against his wishes, but feel that Joshua is far more dangerous because of his love of forming mega-alliances to single out certain players. Cole is understanding, thanking the men for being honest and reiterating that he values them as allies and as people. However, he also warns them that some of the houseguests might get really mad at them for keeping Scott in the game. Upon hearing this comment, Reese suddenly gets really anxious, wondering if saving Scott is worth the backlash they might receive.

After the conversation, Reese shares his worries with Mark, feeling that it might be a foolish idea to flip on what the majority of the House wants this early in the game. Mark urges Reese to calm down, telling him that the “majority” will be far more angry with Paul and Scott themselves than with the two of them for flipping. Plus, they have a good relationship with Cole and with Hayden, who will put a good word in to their allies to keep them both safe. Reese still isn’t sure if voting Joshua out is the right move, though, which worries Mark. In the DR, Mark says that he doesn’t want to align himself with somebody who changes their mind constantly or is too anxious to make beneficial moves.

Right before the eviction, Joshua, Paul, and Scott say their goodbyes to each other. Neither of the two nominees know who will go home, but Joshua is a little more confident that he will stay than Scott is. Of course, Joshua has no idea about the large effort to keep Scott in the game; Scott, although proud of his efforts and feeling like he did everything he could, is still worried that Mark and/or Reese may not flip. He simply gets his nicest clothes on, sits down on the nomination couch, and braces himself for the worst.

At the eviction, those voting for Scott to go feel very little nerves; however, all of the Joshua voters, along with Scott, are very worried that the plan will fail. Joshua and Scott put their arms around each other during the entire voting process. The votes are finally tallied; by a vote of 7-6… Joshua is evicted from the Big Brother House. If the close vote didn’t shock the houseguests who voted for Scott, the outcome certainly did. Scott jumps for joy at his survival, sending a death glare Irene’s way before hugging Joshua goodbye. Joshua is stunned that he got the votes to go home, but he doesn’t throw a fit. He simply grabs his stuff and heads out as the first person evicted from the game.

Votes for Joshua: Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, Mark, Olivia, Paul, & Reese

Votes for Scott: Hayden, Irene, Luke, Marina, Summer, & Veronica

Week 2

Episode 4 Part 2 (HOH)

After Joshua’s blindside, the remaining houseguests (except for Cole, the outgoing HOH) compete in the second Head of Household competition of the season. Still shocked by the outcome of the vote, many of the houseguests who voted for Scott to go home perform poorly. In the end, Paul ends up winning the competition, which makes Scott’s already amazing night even better.

Episode 5 (Safety HOH/Nominations)

Paul and Scott celebrate the former’s HOH victory, feeling like the game is starting to turn around for the two of them. First, they successfully flipped the House to eliminate Joshua; then, Paul manages to win power. Scott is ready to get revenge on all of the houseguests that threw him under the bus and tried to get him sent home during Week 1, especially wanting to see Irene go. Paul isn’t so sure, though; he thinks that people like Luke, Summer, and Veronica might be bigger overall threats.

Jenna congratulates Ashley, Eliza, and Olivia on a job well done, higher than the clouds that the plan to evict Joshua succeeded. Plus, with Paul as the HOH, the four of them should all be safe because they just spared his closest friend in the House. Eliza is glad to know that getting rid of Joshua truly was the right choice, as he was spreading negative things about her to his allies. With Joshua finally gone, Paul and Scott should be more willing to work with them long-term. Mark and Reese walk into the room, jumping for joy that the plan actually worked. The six emphasize the importance of picking off the other houseguests, who are probably angry with them for flipping on the House. In the DR, Reese says that he’s worried how some of the houseguests may react to the script flipping, but makes sure to tell the audience that he feels like he made the right decision for his long-term game.

As the Joshua voters predicted, Irene is very shocked and very pissed at the results of the vote. She asks how the f*ck the vote changed and why she was left out of the fold. Counting the numbers, a much more calm Marina theorizes that Ashley, Jenna, Eliza, Olivia, and Paul must have been five of the seven votes for Joshua. However, she has no idea who else could have flipped. Irene has a feeling that Luke and Veronica were the ones to flip, since they seem like independent thinkers and are clearly a duo at this point. Marina disagrees; she thinks that Mark and Reese must have flipped, since they’re a lot less close to the rest of the people who should have voted for Scott. Irene calls Marina an idiot, saying that Mark and Reese are too much of floaters to make a move like that so early on. Marina defends herself, stating that Irene has no way of knowing if they are “floaters” based on just one week. Irene rolls her eyes, telling Marina that she knows what she’s talking about. Tired of Irene’s negativity and rudeness, Marina walks away from the situation without saying a word. In the DR, she gets emotional. She’s upset over how controlling Irene is and how she never listens to a word she says. Marina wonders why she even talks to Irene still, feeling like she should just let Irene tank her own game and get herself evicted.

Irene is completely unaware that Luke was eavesdropping on the entire conversation. He rushes up to Veronica immediately, telling her what he just heard - Irene is blaming the two of them for flipping and voting Joshua out AND made Marina cry by yelling at her so much. Veronica isn’t at all surprised, calling Irene a “sour bitch” and telling Luke that she never trusted Irene before and won’t start any time soon. She keeps ranting, saying that Irene must be the dumbest person alive to not realize that Mark and Reese flipped. Luke laughs, glad to finally get the chance to bash Irene. Eventually, the two decide to find Marina and console her for what happened. When they find her, they tell her that they heard everything and are so sorry that she is being attacked by a friend of hers. Marina is surprised that the two heard the conversation, but is very thankful towards them both for supporting her. She says that she just needs time away from Irene, admitting that her negativity can be really draining. Luke agrees wholeheartedly, promising Marina that she is valued and the House truly cares about her.

Scott decides to talk with Cole after thwarting his plan to send him home. He tells Cole that he has no bad blood with him, promising that he'll be safe this week. Cole is surprised that Scott and Paul both don’t want revenge, telling Scott that he always saw him as somewhat vengeful. Scott says that he is absolutely vengeful, but that he doesn’t blame Cole for the events of the previous week. Cole fist-bumps Scott, thanking him for being so understanding and being a good sport. Scott says that it’s no problem, telling Cole that he’s a good guy. In the DR, Scott says that he can’t stay mad at Cole; the guy’s just too real and too nice.

Matt calls the houseguests into the living room for the second Safety HOH competition of the season. Before the competition begins, he asks if any of the houseguests (except for Paul, who is ineligible to compete) would like to opt out; Scott decides to opt out, knowing that Paul would never nominate him. However, none of the others - not even Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, or Olivia - opt out. The thirteen houseguests who decided to compete battle it out for the title of Safety HOH, but those who voted Joshua out don’t try nearly as hard as those who voted Scott out. Eliza places last overall and becomes the Safety Nominee, while Veronica ends up winning the competition. After heading inside, she decides to save Luke and Summer from nominations. Eliza, meanwhile, is asked to name five Have-Nots; Luke, Summer, and Veronica all volunteer due to having immunity, while Cole and Hayden also volunteer. Not wanting to piss off anybody, Eliza names these five volunteers as the Have-Nots for the week.

Eliza is worried now that she’s an automatic nominee, feeling that some of the houseguests could be mad at her for flipping and might pile votes onto her instead of Paul’s nominees. Ashley promises her that they’ll have the votes to keep her no matter what, but they urge her to be extra nice to Mark and Reese so that they don’t flip back. Olivia makes a promise to take Eliza off the block if she wins POV, which Ashley and Jenna also make. Eliza thanks them for being so supportive, but admits that she still feels like she could go home. In the DR, Eliza curses herself for being such an idiot and not opting out, since there was no chance of Paul nominating her.

With Luke, Summer, and Veronica all safe, Paul and Scott discuss who they should nominate out of those without immunity. Anyone who voted for Joshua to go home is immediately ruled out, leaving Cole, Hayden, Irene, and Marina as potential nominees. Scott tells Paul that he promised Cole safety for the week, mostly because Cole is skilled in competitions and he doesn’t want a strong guy gunning for him. Paul thinks that Irene should be the one to go, since Hayden and Marina are both really nice and not very big threats. Plus, if they were on the block with Eliza, there’s a good chance of Eliza getting the boot. Scott agrees, telling Paul how much he hates Irene and how glad he would be to see her ass leave. However, they aren’t sure if Hayden or Marina should be the other nominee, seeing them both as equally likely to stay over Irene. Paul thinks it would be easier to just nominate Marina since she and Irene are a duo of sorts, but Scott feels that Marina doesn’t actually like Irene at all and is just faking it; plus, Hayden is generally more liked than Marina is and thus is even less likely of going home.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Paul explains how the ceremony will work. He has two keys inside of a nomination box. He will turn the first key, which will reveal the first nominee. He will then turn the second key, revealing the second nominee. He reminds the House that Eliza is already nominated for finishing last in the Safety HOH competition, while Veronica, Luke, and Summer all have immunity. He then turns the first key, revealing Irene’s face on the wall. Irene glares daggers at Paul as she sits beside Eliza, clearly disgusted with the whole situation. Paul then turns the second key; Marina’s face appears on the wall. Marina is sad to be on the block, but feels like she probably won’t go home. Paul explains that he nominated Irene as the target for her constant rumor spreading and negativity, and he nominated Marina as a pawn. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 6 (POV)

Irene grabs Marina and pulls her out of the living room right away to complain about Paul for nominating them. She rants about Paul in length, complaining about his terrible jokes, his annoying demeanor, and how he doesn’t deserve to be in the game. Marina tells Irene that she can always win the Power of Veto and that she doesn’t need to get angry or panic just yet. She reminds Irene that she’ll go home for sure if she starts picking fights or acting out and that she needs to calm down. Irene tells Marina to shut up, saying that she’s allowed to be mad if she feels mad and that she needs to stop policing her. Offended, Marina stands up for herself, telling Irene that she is being rude. Irene simply shrugs and says she doesn’t give a sh*t what Marina thinks before walking away, leaving Marina stunned and upset. In the DR, Marina says that Irene is supposed to be her ally, but is always yelling at her and treating her like trash.

Marina goes into the storage room and cries, upset at Irene’s rudeness. Paul walks into the room to get a beer and sees Marina bawling her eyes out. He believes that she’s upset because of the nominations, so he sits beside her and apologizes to her for nominating her. Marina says she doesn’t really care about that; she’s more upset with Irene yelling at her afterwards. Paul is disgusted with Irene for bullying her “ally” into tears, telling Marina that it will be all right and Irene will go home. He then leaves the room, which suddenly makes Marina feel guilty. In the DR, she says that, although Irene did make her feel worthless, she feels bad for throwing her under the bus to Paul.

Paul finds Luke and Veronica and tells them that Irene has struck again - this time, she’s made Marina an emotional wreck. Veronica feels terrible, hoping that Irene can finally go home this week. Luke, though, is less calm, immediately storming out of the room and calling a House meeting. Marina realizes what is happening as soon as the meeting is called. Once all of the houseguests gather, Luke tells the group that Irene is bullying Marina into doing what she says. He urges the House to dispose of Irene at the earliest possible convenience before sitting back down. Irene is pissed, firing back at Luke and telling him that he’s pretending to care about Marina in order to advance another week. Luke is confused, reminding her and the House that he already has immunity for the week and doesn’t need to pull stunts to secure his spot in the House. Irene, however, uses aggressive and rude tactics to advance herself further in the game but he won’t let it work. When Irene begins to open her mouth again, Luke and Veronica leave, not wanting to hear whatever sh*t she’s about to spew from her mouth. The rest of the houseguests also exit the room, leaving just Irene and Marina.

Irene asks Marina if she truly felt bullied by her. Marina simply nods, not wanting to make eye contact with Irene. Irene sincerely apologizes to Marina, stating that it was never her intention to hurt her feelings and that she’s truly sorry for doing so. Marina tells Irene that it’s okay, but she needs to realize that it’s an alliance - both members should have an equal say and should listen to each other. Irene tells Marina that she was overreacting to being on the block and that she needs to win the POV to ease her mind. Marina tells Irene that she feels bad for telling Paul - who walked in on her crying - the reason she was sad; Marina theorizes that Paul must have spread the news to Luke and Veronica somehow. Irene says she doesn’t care anymore and that she can only rely on herself and Marina to survive now.

Cole, Hayden, Luke, Summer, and Veronica discuss the House meeting, reiterating the fact that Irene needs to go this week. Summer says that Marina is a super nice girl that doesn’t deserve a third of the sh*t Irene throws at her on a daily basis. Hayden agrees, saying that Irene’s behavior throughout the game has been despicable and that he regrets working with her the first week. Cole tells the group that Scott approached him with a plan to backdoor Irene, feeling like he made a mistake by not going through with the idea. Veronica disagrees; she states that, although Irene is annoying and a terrible person, she is targeting (or was, at least) Joshua, Paul, and Scott before any of the five of them. She tells Cole that he made the right decision considering the House dynamics for the first week, urging him not to beat himself up over it. The five of them decide that they need to win the POV to prevent Irene from saving herself, with Luke and Veronica particularly in favor of getting rid of her.

Leaving the alliance meeting, Luke and Veronica sit together on the hammock, talking about anything except for the game. As they talk, Luke can sense something… else between the two of them. Eventually, he decides to tell Veronica that he has a bit of a crush on her. Veronica blushes, giggles, and confesses to Luke that she has a crush on him, too. Luke asks her if she wants to officially form a showmance with him. Veronica is hesitant, telling Luke that showmances often become big targets, suggesting that they wait a little bit to make anything official. Luke ultimately agrees, but tells Veronica that he can see a future between the two of them. In the DR, Veronica is giddy that the adorable Luke likes her back, but that she needs to play this carefully to avoid becoming a huge target.

At the Veto Player Pick, Paul draws Jenna’s name, making her the fifth competitor. He also draws Eliza’s name; since Eliza is a nominee, she picks Ashley to compete. Jenna and Ashley join Paul, the HOH, and Irene, Marina, and Eliza, the nominees, in competing for the second POV of the season. In the end, Irene annoys the rest of the House by winning the power.

Paul and Scott are deeply upset to see Irene win the POV, knowing she’s going to use it on herself and thwart their plan to get rid of her. Now, they need to come up with a replacement nominee. They call Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, and Olivia up to help them with figuring out who should go on the block. Jenna feels similarly to Paul and Scott in that nobody who voted for Joshua to go should be nominated this week, which leaves Cole and Hayden as the only eligible nominees. Eliza strongly advocates for Cole to go as a replacement target, arguing that Marina isn’t much of a threat and worrying that, by nominating Hayden as the replacement, Eliza could go instead because Hayden will probably get zero votes. Olivia is on Eliza’s side, but Ashley, Jenna, Paul, and Scott all disagree. Scott tells the group that he promised Cole safety for the week and that Cole is an outsider to the group of people who voted for Scott to go home the previous week. Hayden could be nominated as a pawn and, as long as Mark and Reese vote with them again, Marina should be the one going home. Jenna says it’s upsetting that Marina has to go, but her closeness to Irene despite Irene's bullying makes her threatening. Eliza doesn’t like the plan, but states that she’s fine with it as long as her safety is guaranteed.

Paul decides to ask Mark and Reese if they’ll vote with him again. To please him, they both say yes right away, but neither is sure if they’ll actually follow through on it. In the DR, Mark states that voting with Paul and co. made sense the previous week when Joshua was on the block, but he knows he can’t vote for Hayden or Cole at all. Reese decides to vocalize this, telling Paul that he’d vote for Marina if that’s what Paul wants, but he wouldn’t consider voting for Cole or Hayden for even a second. Paul notes this, feeling more certain that Hayden should go up as a pawn instead of switching the target to Cole. He confers with Scott, and the two make a final decision.

At the Veto Ceremony, Irene uses the Power of Veto on herself, not wanting to take any risks after being called out earlier in the week. Paul tells the House that it was very difficult for him to come up with a replacement nominee before announcing that he has nominated Hayden. Hayden looks a little surprised to go on the block, but rather cheerfully sits down on the nomination couch. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 7 (Eviction)

Eliza isn’t happy with the results of the Veto Ceremony, telling Olivia that she doesn’t feel sure if she’ll stay. After all, Marina is very well-liked and Mark and Reese could flip back to the other side of the House. Olivia agrees that she would have preferred if Cole had been the replacement nominee, but also states that Mark and Reese seem somewhat close to Cole and might have refused to vote for him. Eliza just hopes that Paul’s confidence that Marina will go home is warranted, since the last thing she wants is to be blindsided as a Safety Nominee.

Hayden and Marina are similarly nervous, feeling that Paul is now gunning for one of them to go. Hayden tells Marina that she is very well-liked and would never leave, so that it must be him that is going. Marina disagrees, telling Hayden that no one in their right mind would vote for him to be evicted. Hayden isn’t so sure, but tells Marina that he’ll miss her a lot regardless and that she has been a good friend during the brief time they got to know each other. This brings tears to Marina’s eyes; she’s upset that, unless they can pull off a blindside, she’ll be separated from a good friend of hers.

Hayden and Marina work together to gather votes against Eliza, not wanting to be on the wrong side of the vote again. Marina quickly gets Irene to vote against Eliza, since Irene sees her as one of Paul’s “minions”. Luke, Summer, and Veronica also promise to vote Eliza, since they see Hayden and Marina as useful allies down the line - especially Hayden. Hayden and Marina compare notes, realizing that they only need two more votes against Eliza to have a majority. They do know, though, that there is no way that Ashley, Jenna, Olivia, or Scott will vote against Eliza. That leaves just Cole, Mark, and Reese as potential flippers. Hayden thinks he can sway the three men, heading out to flip them to his side.

Hayden gathers Cole, Mark, and Reese, urging them to listen to his plea. He states that Eliza is part of a growing alliance that doesn’t care at all about any of the four of them. Plus, he and Marina aren’t threats in any way, while Eliza appears to have strategic strength. Cole seems convinced that Eliza needs to go, not personally trusting her at all; Mark and Reese, however, are hesitant. They think it would be smarter to stick with the group they voted with the previous week even if Hayden and Marina are both non-threats, since they’ll look like untrustworthy flip-floppers if they change their minds on which group to vote with each week.

Feeling he’s done all that he can do, Hayden tells Luke, Summer, and Veronica that he tried his best to convince Cole, Mark, and Reese to vote with them against Eliza. Summer feels like Mark and Reese might not vote with them, since they voted differently than them last week. However, Cole should vote with them because he’s part of their alliance, and would find it legitimately troubling if he switched. Hayden warns the group that Cole might listen to Mark and Reese this week to try and form a bond with them. Luke decides to speak up, telling Hayden that he’s acting a bit paranoid and that Cole is definitely with them, even if he has a strong bond with Mark and Reese. In the end, it makes no sense for people to vote Hayden or Marina out when Eliza is on the block. Hayden counters this, saying that some houseguests might vote Marina out to try and weaken Irene, who seems like public enemy #1 at this point in the game. Veronica hadn’t considered this before; she wasn’t worried at all about the vote until realizing that there is a legitimate reason to get rid of Marina. Suddenly, she fears that Hayden might be right about the vote not going their way again.

Meanwhile, Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, Olivia, Paul, and Scott make sure that everybody knows who is going. Everybody seems on board with voting Marina out instead of Hayden, since Marina’s bond with Irene could keep Irene in the House longer, while Hayden doesn’t really pose any threat whatsoever. Jenna feels bad that Marina has to go since she’s so kind, but hates Irene so much that she doesn’t really care - as long as Irene is weaker. Many of her allies share the same sentiments. Scott feels that voting Marina is also smart because Mark and Reese are more likely to stay on their side if she is the target compared to Hayden, who they both seem to really like and trust.

Marina gives Irene a goodbye in case she’s evicted, telling her that, through the ups and the downs, she’s appreciated her friendship. Irene shows some positivity for once by returning the compliments to Marina, saying she will be legitimately crushed if she leaves. Marina promises that she’ll stay, since it doesn’t make much sense to get rid of her or Hayden this week. Irene says that it didn’t make sense to get rid of Joshua, either, but people still did it anyways. Still, Irene chooses to be optimistic, telling the audience via the DR that she’s excited to work with Marina in the weeks to come, especially with their relationship repaired.

At the eviction, Marina and Hayden hold hands while Eliza impatiently waits for the results. With zero votes to evict, Hayden is safe. Hayden breathes a sigh of relief, genuinely afraid that he could have been blindsided. By a vote of 6-5… Marina is evicted from the Big Brother House. The same houseguests who were blindsided by the Joshua vote (except for Hayden and Veronica) are similarly shocked with this vote, unable to fathom why the House would want to get rid of the fun-loving Marina. Marina exits very graciously, hugging everybody goodbye and thanking them all for the great experience. She departs the House as the second person evicted from the game.

Votes for Marina: Ashley, Jenna, Mark, Olivia, Reese, & Scott

Votes for Eliza: Cole, Irene, Luke, Summer, & Veronica

Votes for Hayden: --

Week 3

Episode 8 (HOH/Safety HOH/Nominations)

After Marina’s shocking eviction, the fourteen remaining houseguests (except for Paul, the outgoing HOH) compete in the third Head of Household competition of the season. With the game having truly begun, nobody throws this competition. In the end, Veronica manages to beat everybody else, making her the third HOH of Big Brother 5. In the DR, Scott confesses that Veronica’s win is awful for his standing in the game, but he vows not to give up until the bitter end.

Cole, Hayden, Luke, Summer, and Veronica gather in her new HOH room, celebrating the triumphant victory after two blindside votes in a row. Hayden hugs them all, thanking them so much for not voting for him. Cole laughs, telling Hayden that none of them would even consider voting for him. He also congratulates Veronica on her win, admitting that he finally feels some security in the House. Summer states that it’s finally time to get rid of Scott’s and Paul’s annoying asses, feeling like there will be a lot more peace in the House once they’re both gone. Veronica isn’t so sure if she wants them out, though. She tells the group that Paul and Scott are both predictable and big targets, while Mark and Reese are flip-flopping constantly and are flying under the radar. Cole strongly dislikes this comment, stating in the DR that he has a good bond with Mark and Reese and worries that Veronica might try to split that up. He gets even more nervous when Luke backs Veronica up, stating that the pair flipped on them on both of the votes so far and cannot be trusted at all. Cole tries to shift the target back to Paul and Scott, reminding the group that they’re both fairly strong in competitions and are disrupting the peace within the House. Hayden is on Cole’s side, but Summer also sides with Luke and Veronica on getting rid of Mark and Reese. Cole states that he can’t control Veronica’s nominations, but that he’s strongly opposed to getting rid of Mark and Reese - who are still potential allies for them in the future. In the DR, Cole states he will do anything he can to protect Mark and Reese - even if it pisses off his other allies.

Cole and Hayden tell Mark and Reese that Veronica might be gunning for them, citing the fact that they flipped on her in both eviction votes so far. Mark is confused, asking why Veronica would target them; after all, they haven’t even come close to winning any of the competitions yet. Cole tells Mark that Veronica sees them as untrustworthy and as flip-floppers, which irritates Mark. Hayden interjects, begging Mark and Reese to stay calm and that he and Cole will work to keep them off the block. In the DR, Mark says that the exchange with Cole and Hayden reaffirmed his trust for them, but weakened it between Veronica and her allies even further. He feels an even stronger allegiance to Ashley and Jenna now than ever before.

Speaking of which, Eliza and Olivia find Reese later on in the day and thank him for voting against Marina at the previous eviction. They both find him really trustworthy and feel like he’ll go far into the game due to his unthreatening nature. Reese is thankful for the kind words, but humbly states that he just voted with his heart. Falling in love with Reese for his humility, Olivia proposes that the three of them work together to make it to the end. Reese is 100% on board with the idea, saying that they should all easily be able to make it all the way. In the DR, Reese says that he voted with Eliza and Olivia’s side of the House both times because he and Mark trusted the girls far more than anybody on the other side, who they believe are in a tight-knit alliance. The alliance offer that Eliza and Olivia gave him only strengthens this bond of trust.

The houseguests gather in the living room for the Safety HOH competition. Again, Matt asks if anybody would like to opt out of the competition. As expected, Hayden, Luke, and Summer all opt out. However, Veronica and her allies are confused to see Cole opt in, wondering why he would bother competing if there’s no way he’d be nominated. In the third Safety HOH competition of the season, Cole beasts yet again and wins handily. He shocks the HOH by saving Mark and Reese from eviction, going directly against the plan that Veronica attempted to enact. Eliza placed last in the competition, making her the Safety Nominee for the second week in a row. She gets to choose five Have-Nots again; she chooses Irene, Cole, Mark, Reese, and Summer.

Ashley, Jenna, and Olivia console Eliza in one of the bedrooms, feeling legitimately terrible that she ended up as the Safety Nominee twice in a row - especially after only surviving eviction by one vote the previous week. Eliza complains about the twist, also angry at herself for continuing to compete and continuing to get last. Jenna reminds Eliza that she did win the first Safety HOH, so she’s not hopeless; this doesn’t really comfort Eliza very much, though, since that doesn’t change the fact that she’s on the block. Ashley is far more comforting - she argues that Veronica will probably target Paul and Scott, who would certainly go home over Eliza. Realizing that she’s right, Eliza apologizes for being such a downer and that she’ll do everything in her power to keep herself in the game. After all, whining and complaining won’t get you anywhere.

Veronica pulls Cole aside and asks him what the hell he was thinking by saving her targets. Cole tells Veronica the truth - he thought it would be an awful idea to target Mark and Reese when Scott and Paul are both after their alliance and are much stronger in competitions. Besides, Mark and Reese could be easily taken out later since they have zero competition wins under their belts. Veronica states that she isn’t mad, but that she would have liked an explanation from him before making the move. In the DR, Cole states that he can tell there’s a hierarchy within his alliance with Veronica, and that he’s on the very bottom of that hierarchy. He states that he’s not playing for fifth place - he’s playing to win. Cole apologizes to Veronica for going against her, and hopes that there’s no bad blood between the two of them. Veronica shakes his hand, promising him there isn’t. In the DR, Veronica says that Cole is dangerous. Despite his direct betrayal of her, she wasn’t even able to stay mad at him for more than fifteen minutes - proving how persuasive Cole can be.

Elsewhere, Luke and Summer have a lighthearted discussion in the backyard. Eventually, Summer teases Luke about having a crush on Veronica. Although Summer is joking, Luke tells her that he really does have a thing for her - and she has one for him as well. Summer giggles, asking Luke to go on. Luke proceeds to gush about Veronica - how funny she is, how sweet she is, and how intelligent she is. In the DR, Summer confesses that Luke really likes Veronica and that it’s really sweet to see. Whenever Luke begins to talk about her, his face lights up. Summer calls Luke the sweetest guy she’s ever met and hoping they can be long-term friends outside of the game. Luke talks about Summer in the DR; specifically, how good of a friend she is. She is always there to listen and to crack jokes at your expense, but she still knows how to cheer you up. He says that he would be more than willing to take Summer all the way to the end if he can’t do so with Veronica.

Hayden and Veronica discuss what she should do now that Mark and Reese cannot be nominated. Hayden makes the same argument as Cole - Paul and Scott not only have proven they can win competitions, but they also have managed to gain themselves legitimate allies. Veronica agrees; with Mark and Reese both immune, she doesn’t have many other options to begin with. She does remind Hayden that Irene might still be mad at her for Luke’s House meeting the previous week and the subsequent elimination of Marina; Hayden shakes his head, telling Veronica that, since she voted for Eliza to go instead, she should be fine. With that, the two decide that Paul and Scott should go up.

Irene decides to do damage control with Veronica just in case she’s still mad at her for the bullying incident. Irene approaches Veronica in the HOH room and apologizes to her for acting so rude as a result of being nominated, admitting that she was stressed about going home and took that stress out on Marina, Luke, and Veronica. Veronica tells her that it’s fine and that she pushed for Eliza to go home instead, but Mark and Reese flipped on them again. Irene also apologizes for blaming her and Luke for flipping and voting out Joshua, when it was really Mark and Reese who flipped both times. Veronica tells her that she has no hard feelings and that there are many bigger fish to fry - referring to not only Paul and Scott but to Ashley, Jenna, and even Eliza and Olivia. The two women shake hands; as soon as Irene leaves the room, Veronica pretends to gag herself. She states in the DR that she absolutely cannot stand Irene and how annoying she is, but Irene is firmly on her side and thus must be protected.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Veronica explains how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, revealing the first nominee. Then, the second key will be turned, revealing the second nominee. She also reminds the House that Eliza is automatically nominated as the Safety Nominee. Veronica turns the first key, revealing Paul’s face on the wall. Paul is completely unfazed and sits down without any reaction. She then turns the second key, revealing Scott as the second nominee. Scott simply shrugs and sits down on the nomination couch, completely expecting to be nominated. Veronica states that she nominated Paul and Scott because they are both firmly against her - more so than any of the other houseguests in the game. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 9 (POV)

Scott gets up and offers Veronica a hug to prove that he has no hard feelings; she’s a little surprised to see him act with any sort of kindness or calm, but accepts the hug anyways. In the DR, she states that she isn’t sure if Scott is trying to be nice to get votes to stay or if he’s legitimately coming around. Either way, she appreciates the sucking up. Paul, while not angry or confrontational, is clearly bummed to be nominated and solemnly walks out of the room, avoiding eye contact with Veronica and her allies. In the DR, Paul confesses that he’s tried to play the past week and a half being nice to everybody, but it’s still not doing him any favors. Irene comments in the DR that Paul’s sadness is proof that he’s a sore loser and needs to go, especially after he tried to come for her during Week 2.

Veronica discusses Scott’s surprising kindness with her allies, who try to convince her that it’s all an act. She isn’t so sure, though, telling the group that she’s only seen Scott act rude to Irene, who in her opinion deserves it. Cole defends Veronica's point of view, mentioning to the group that Scott is making an effort to talk with everybody seriously instead of making dumb jokes all the time. He states that they probably have a negative opinion of him because of his antics during the first week or so - which is admittedly deserved - but urges them to be more open-minded, especially since whoever survives the eviction could be a potential ally for them down the road. Summer is skeptical of this, wondering how they would ever be able to trust Paul or Scott; Cole simply says he’s throwing it out there, also pointing out that there seems to be a big clique of women that are running a lot of the game. He names Ashley, Jenna, Eliza, and Olivia in particular, feeling that the four of them are trying to go to the end together. Hayden tells everybody to calm down, saying that they can figure out what to do in the future later - for now, they need to focus on splitting up Paul and Scott. Cole agrees, apologizing for over-strategizing and telling Veronica that he trusts her with whatever she wants to do with her HOH. In the DR, Veronica says that she didn’t like Cole’s little pitch, especially considering that he saved her initial targets from eviction earlier in the week. She’s seriously considering removing him from the alliance but doesn’t want to make any rash decisions.

Ashley comforts Eliza in the Storage Room, but she tells her that she’s perfectly fine. She was worried when she was up against two well-liked people, but almost everybody in the House hates Paul and Scott. It would take a miracle to get enough votes to send her home this time around. Ashley tells Eliza that she’s proud of her for her optimism, agreeing that the week should be smooth sailing for their alliance despite Veronica being the HOH. Eliza tells her that she can already picture the two of them, along with Jenna and Olivia, in the final four. This is a lie; although Eliza wants to take Ashley and Jenna as far as she can, she is already thinking about taking Reese deep - he’s such a floater that he would be easy to beat in a jury vote. She knows that, when the time is right, she may need to turn on Ashley and Jenna even though she loves them to death.

Paul and Scott talk about what they should do to survive the week as they sit in the backyard on a bright, sunny day. As they talk, Irene decides to take a nap nearby. Paul and Scott don’t stop talking game, though, which annoys Irene, who is trying to sleep. Eventually, she tells the two of them to keep it down. Paul looks ready to fight her, but Scott calms him down and lowers his voice. Despite quite literally whispering, Irene still hears them and yells at them to shut the f*ck up. Paul can’t hold back this time, telling Irene to stop being such an entitled bitch and to go sleep in a bedroom like a normal person. She angrily retorts that she wants to sleep in the sun, so Paul calls her a f*cking idiot and tells her that there’s a hammock 20 feet away from her. She says that she sees Luke and Veronica hang out on the hammock a lot, saying that she doesn’t want to sleep in the same place where they probably had sex. Paul looks at her, shocked at the level of her bitchiness, before walking inside and motioning Scott to join him. Scott tells Paul that he’s proud of him for walking away, but Paul is doing nothing of the sort. Instead, he immediately charges up to the HOH room with a nervous Scott in tow, filling Veronica in on how Irene basically called her Luke’s slut again and how she’s terrorizing the House.

Veronica grabs Luke and heads outside to confront Irene, clearly tired with her antics. In the DR, Luke complains about having to deal with Irene again, thinking she would have learned her lesson when she was almost sent packing. Veronica finds her lounging in the backyard, telling her that she doesn’t appreciate all of her negative comments towards her and Luke. Irene rolls her eyes, telling her that she’s trying to take a nap. Luke is flabbergasted, in disbelief over how rude Irene is being. He tells her to stop slut-shaming Veronica and to stop spreading rumors about how they “have sex” on the hammock, finding it disturbing that she’s so obsessed with their relationship. Irene doesn’t respond, pretending to be asleep. Luke and Veronica decide it isn’t worth it and leave Irene alone. Luke tells Veronica that he can’t understand what Irene’s problem is and why she always feels the need to constantly attack her at every possible opportunity. Veronica theorizes that Irene could see their relationship as a threat, or that for some reason Irene just doesn't like them being close to each other.

As Ashley and Jenna are having a conversation in one of the bedrooms, Veronica walks in and asks to speak with them. They oblige, and Veronica tells them that she’s having issues with Irene and her rude behavior. Jenna says that’s not a surprise since Irene is such a stuck-up bitch, but Veronica says it’s more than just that. She thinks that Irene doesn't trust her for being so close with Luke. Ashley says that Irene is suffering from jealousy, since Luke is so attractive; Jenna giggles, clearly agreeing with Ashley. Veronica blushes a bit, signaling to the two girls that she agrees with them, before asking them for advice on how to make Irene less pissed off at her. Jenna states that she shouldn’t have to do damage control with Irene - after all, Veronica is the HOH and could easily send her packing. Ashley buts in, saying that she could just bring it up with her directly and have her explain herself, but doesn’t promise that this will work. Veronica thanks them for helping her out, and decides to reach out to Irene.

During this entire fiasco, Cole, Hayden, Mark, and Reese are discussing the game. Cole decides to tell Mark and Reese that Veronica, along with Luke and Summer, were considering targeting them earlier in the week. He says that he primarily saved them to thwart this plan, which may have put him in hot water. Reese is very thankful to Cole for sacrificing his position in an alliance to protect him and his ally. Cole then proposes that the four of them work together down the line, since he and Hayden feel like they’re on the bottom of their current alliance. Reese immediately accepts, glad to have more options; Mark, however is a bit hesitant, but decides to go along with it and enters the alliance. In the DR, Mark worries about forming a solid alliance beyond his partnership with Reese, since big alliances almost always end up being targeted. Hayden, meanwhile, is thrilled to have another alliance, feeling that the more alliances he has, the better.

Veronica calls Irene up to her HOH room to have a chat. Irene doesn’t want to go up there whatsoever, but eventually saunters her way up and plops down on the bed. Once there, Veronica addresses the animosity the two have towards each other, asking Irene if she wants to explain the reasoning behind her negative feelings towards her. When Irene doesn’t say anything, Veronica tries to lighten the mood by joking that she thinks it’s because Irene might have a crush on Luke and is jealous of how close they are. Irene gets very defensive, saying that she would never feel something so petty. In reality, though, Veronica’s mere joke is a major reason behind Irene's animosity. Irene says in the DR that Luke is one of the hottest guys in the House and wants Veronica out of the picture so that she can have him to herself. Veronica simply tells Irene that it’s petty and immature to make disparaging sexual remarks about other people, urging her to get a new perspective. In the DR, Irene states that she has no idea how to react to the “conversation” with Veronica, but that she needs to get on her good side - and fast - to avoid going home.

At the Veto Player Pick, Veronica draws Paul’s chip; he chooses Hayden to compete. She also draws Reese’s chip, making him the other random competitor. Hayden and Reese join Veronica, the HOH, and Paul, Scott, and Olivia, the nominees, in competing for the third POV of the season. In the end, Scott manages to power through and win the competition, potentially throwing Veronica’s plans up in the air.

Paul and Scott do celebrate Scott’s victory briefly, but realize that they need to put in some serious work to make sure that Veronica doesn’t just nominate a pawn to ensure Paul’s eviction. They settle on throwing Irene under the bus, since it’s clear that Luke and Veronica have serious bad blood with her. If Irene goes on the block, it will be a foregone conclusion that she goes home - all they need to do is convince Veronica that she needs to go. In the DR, Scott says that he can’t be too happy about his POV win, since it’s very likely that Paul will get the boot instead - leaving him all alone in the game.

Conveniently, Veronica is discussing potential renom options with Summer. Summer thinks it would be smart to nominate somebody like Olivia or Ashley as the replacement, since they are both potential votes for Paul to stay. Veronica agrees, telling her it would be a good idea to make sure that Paul goes home; in actuality, though, Veronica has second thoughts - especially with Irene’s confrontational attitude as of late. Just like clockwork, Paul heads up to the HOH room and asks to speak with Veronica alone. Summer, not believing there will be any way for Paul to save himself, leaves the room without a word. Paul is quick to throw Irene under the bus right away, telling Veronica that Irene is targeting her way harder than he is - plus, if somehow both he and Irene survive, he would only be gunning for Irene to go. This interests Veronica, who really wants to see Irene leave the game, but she tells Paul that she can’t promise him anything. Everyone expects her to get rid of him by nominating a pawn, so she isn’t sure if she should betray so many people just to make a personal decision. Paul understands, but warns Veronica that she needs to make the right choice.

Irene isn’t oblivious - she realizes that she could be in trouble. She decides to talk with Veronica and formally apologize for her behavior over the past few weeks. Immediately, Irene admits that her behavior does stem from jealousy over Luke and that she’s so, so sorry for letting something so ridiculous control her like that. She begs Veronica for forgiveness, promising to never fight with her again and also pledging loyalty to her for the rest of the game. Veronica forgives Irene to her face, but in private still loathes the woman for being so vindictive towards her and towards most of the House. She also laughs that a woman in her 50s would get so protective of a 20-something model, finding the age difference and the whole situation embarrassing for Irene. Still, the conversation makes Veronica less sure about targeting the woman. It’s clear that Irene is no longer after her, so she wonders if it would be a stupid move to get rid of her to please people that she doesn’t trust at all, either, like Paul and Scott.

At the Veto Ceremony, Scott uses the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block. Veronica stands up, tells the House that the decision was tough, and names Olivia as the replacement nominee. Paul realizes that he is doomed as soon as he hears the name “Olivia”, while Olivia isn’t surprised to be nominated, sitting calmly next to two of her allies. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 10 Part 1 (Eviction)

Paul is crushed that his game seems to be coming to a close, not wanting his time on Big Brother to end so fast and so abruptly. Scott does his best to comfort his friend, but knows deep down that there’s nothing he can do to console him. He does tell Paul that he can try to convince Veronica and her allies to target Eliza or Olivia instead since the girls seem to be so close to each other, but doesn’t promise anything besides his own vote come eviction. In the DR, Paul says that he’s likely going home this week, so he hopes that Scott can power through and win against all the odds.

Scott makes his pitch, starting with the guys that he thinks he could most easily flip: Mark and Reese. He says that he’s enjoyed working with the two of them, alongside Paul, so far in the game, and he wants that grouping to continue by keeping Paul in the House. Scott does throw some of his allies under the bus a little bit, telling Mark and Reese that Eliza and Olivia have connections with Ashley and Jenna, while Paul only has him. When Scott is done campaigning for Paul to stay, Mark and Reese discuss what they should do. Mark says that Scott does bring up some legitimate points, worrying that the oft-speculated girls’ alliance between Eliza, Olivia, Ashley, and Jenna could be a real thing that won’t turn on itself any time soon. Reese tells him that it’s the right choice to send Paul home, since Eliza and Olivia aren’t threats at all. In fact, they are the only two people to ever be Safety Nominees because they always do awful in competitions. Reese says that he’d consider voting Ashley or Jenna out down the line, but Eliza and Olivia aren’t at all threats. In actuality, though, Reese wants to keep Eliza and Olivia safe because of his newly formed alliance with them, but he doesn’t want to reveal this to Mark. In the DR, Mark says he’s surprised that Reese cares about who goes, since he’s usually a “go with the flow” kind of guy. He wonders what Reese’s real motives are with pushing for Paul to go so badly.

Worried about Reese’s loyalty, Mark talks with Cole and Hayden about what they should do. When Mark asks the vote, Hayden admits he’s confused that there’s even a discussion about it - why wouldn’t they vote for Paul as planned? Mark says he was talking about the possibility of voting for Eliza or Olivia because they seem to have a lot of allies, but Reese immediately shot the idea down. Cole shrugs, not understanding what the deal is; Mark explains that Reese never cares who goes, as long as he’s in the majority and it’s not him. He finds it odd that Reese is suddenly so passionate about keeping Eliza and Olivia, wondering if there’s something he’s not telling him. Cole defends Reese, telling Mark that he’s probably just being a bit paranoid and that Paul is a far bigger physical threat than Eliza and Olivia are. Hayden disagrees; while Paul is the bigger physical threat, Mark isn’t wrong that both Eliza and Olivia have a lot of connections in the House. Plus, Paul would feel indebted to them if they saved him, giving them all more options down the line. The three men discuss the pros and cons of keeping and evicting Paul, wondering more and more if they should flip the script.

Paul decides to do some campaigning to Luke, Summer, and Veronica, hoping to get them to change their mind on who they’re targeting. He repeats the same points as Scott regarding Eliza and Olivia and how they have so many connections in the House, while all Paul has is Scott. However, he knows that this argument won’t convince the three of them to change their minds, so he digs deeper, telling them all that he’s only coming after Irene if he wins HOH next week. He then warns Luke and Veronica in particular that Irene is probably only playing nice to stay in the game, and will gun for them as soon as possible. In the DR, Luke admits that Paul made a pretty good case, since he would do anything to get rid of Irene. He and Veronica promise Paul that they’ll keep an open mind on who to vote, but don’t promise him that they’ll fight for him to stay. Summer tells the pair as soon as he leaves that the vote needs to stay Paul. Sure, he might be coming for Irene next, but who will he want out after that? Definitely not Ashley, or Jenna, or Eliza, or Olivia, or anyone else but the three of them. Long-term, getting rid of Paul is a smart idea, especially since literally everybody wants Irene gone. In the DR, Summer says she could tell Luke and Veronica were starting to actually agree with Paul’s arguments, and she simply couldn’t let that happen. Paul is a threat and needs to go, in Summer’s eyes at least.

Irene does a little celebratory dance that she managed to avoid the block despite fighting with the HOH earlier in the week. When Paul sees her dancing, he rolls his eyes at her blatant show-offery. She sees his annoyed reaction and asks him if he has a problem. Paul tells her that the last thing he wants to do is start a fight and begins walking away, but Irene calls him a p*ssy for backing off. Paul stops in place, cranes his neck around, and stares at Irene in absolute disbelief. He asks her why she always feels the need to start petty conflicts for no reason. She says that he started it by rolling his eyes, to which Paul, again, rolls his eyes. Irene starts to yell, telling Paul to go f*ck himself. Paul fights back, telling Irene that he can’t wait until she gets evicted unanimously next week before storming off, leaving Irene cackling in the living room. In the DR, Irene says she wants to start as many fights as possible to have other people tank their own games, saying she has nothing left to lose at this point.

When Scott sees a frustrated Paul storm into the bedroom, he asks him what’s wrong; Paul says nothing other than Irene’s typical emotional terrorism. Scott cannot believe that Irene is acting so immature yet again, wondering what happened in her life that caused her to be such an awful person. Paul reiterates how much he hopes that bitch goes home next week, saying that he wishes he could be there to see it. Scott says that it would be a crime if Irene outlasted him, but promises he’ll do everything in his power to send her ass packing. Paul chuckles, saying that he can’t wait to see Irene cry on her way out while he watches the show on TV. In the DR, Scott almost gets emotional, unable to believe that he’s really about to lose both Joshua and Paul in just the first few weeks. He hopes that a miracle happens and people flip, but he doubts that will happen.

Ashley and Jenna talk with Scott about the future in the game, knowing that Paul will be going home. They promise him that they’ll stay loyal to him even more than ever before, feeling bad that he’s lost his two closest allies already. Scott thanks them for support, telling the two women that he considers them his strongest allies with Paul likely going out the door. Jenna agrees, telling Scott that, although she and Ashley have an alliance with Eliza and Olivia, they don’t really trust those two all that much. Ashley explains that she sees Eliza and Olivia talk a LOT with Mark and Reese, which sketches them out a little bit. Although she’s sure she’s just being paranoid, she tells Scott that she trusts him 100%. Scott is very thankful to the two women for reaching out to him like this, saying that he would be very happy to go all the way to the final three with them. Ashley and Jenna hug him tightly, which makes Scott feel a lot better. In the DR, Ashley can tell that Scott likes her and Jenna so much because he thinks they’re attractive women, and Ashley plans on using that to her utmost advantage. She also says that Scott isn’t too bad looking himself, although he's a little old for her. In the DR, Scott says that he feels amazing that two attractive and very smart women want to take him all the way to the end, especially with Paul likely going home.

At the eviction, Paul seems to be accepting his fate as Eliza and Olivia hold hands. With zero votes to evict… Eliza is safe. Eliza knew she would stay, but still looks relieved to not have received a single vote. By a vote of 9-1… Paul is evicted from the Big Brother House. Paul is really sad to have his journey cut so short, but is respectful on his way out, hugging everybody - that is, everybody except for Irene, who he pushes out of the way to get his bag. He heads out of the House as the third person evicted from the game.

Week 4

Episode 10 Part 2 (HOH)

After Paul’s eviction, the remaining houseguests (except for Veronica, the outgoing HOH) compete in the fourth Head of Household competition of the season. The people outside of Veronica’s core alliance put extra effort into winning. Once it’s all said and done, Scott is the winner of the competition and is the new HOH. He immediately throws a little party for himself and yells at Irene to pack her bags because her ass is going home.

Episode 11 (Safety HOH/Nominations)

The episode opens by showing Scott yelling at Irene to pack her bags after his HOH victory. In the DR, Luke comments that he had to do everything in his power to not crack up laughing at Scott’s hilarious and cathartic remarks towards Irene. He tells the audience that Scott summed up what he’s been wanting to say to her for the past three weeks. He hopes that everything will go according to Scott’s plan and that Irene will truly go home - which, in Luke’s mind, would be a very good riddance.

Ashley immediately congratulates Scott on winning the pivotal competition, also praising him for effectively ending Irene’s life. He chuckles and says it’s not a problem - after all, she had it coming. Ashley agrees, asking Scott how he plans on going about getting rid of her. He says he isn’t sure, but thinks it would be better to just nominate her outright - especially since there isn’t a replacement nominee if the Safety Nominee is vetoed. Ashley agrees with Scott, and they debate who the other pawn should be. Ashley pushes for Reese to go up as the pawn; she argues that he has been flying under the radar and probably wouldn’t get very many votes at the eviction. In the DR, Ashley says she’s starting a narrative that Reese is an end-game threat to get rid of him so that Eliza and Olivia scurry back to her - she doesn’t want her other allies to have conflicts of interest. Scott disagrees, thinking that he’s not really all that well-liked because he’s kind of quiet. Instead, Scott asks why they don’t just use Hayden again, since everybody seems to love the kid. Ashley can’t come up with a good reason as to why Hayden can’t be the pawn, eventually conceding. However, she says in the DR that she’s not giving up on getting Reese evicted by any stretch of the imagination.

She talks with Jenna about how she tried - and failed - to get Reese nominated, wondering how they’d be able to get rid of him now that Scott is set on putting Hayden and Irene up. Jenna immediately comes up with a perfect idea - somehow make sure that Hayden is saved by (or becomes) the Safety HOH. That way, Scott will have no choice but to put Reese on the block. Ashley agrees that Jenna’s plan is good, but wonders how to pull it off successfully. She replies that one of the two of them could just win it and save him, but Ashley dislikes the plan. She says that Eliza and Olivia might be suspicious if they aren’t saved. Jenna just says f*ck it and that it’s their fault for scheming and messing around with Reese, which makes Ashley cackle with laughter. In the DR, Ashley says that she and Jenna are very similar - they both don’t really give two f*cks about what people might think about them.

In the DR, Cole senses that there might be some distrust between himself and Veronica, ultimately deciding to apologize for ruining her HOH reign. When he talks with her and apologizes, Veronica is surprisingly forgiving. She tells Cole that it was the right decision in the end to target Paul and Scott, who she’s realized are much bigger threats than Mark and Reese could ever dream of being. Cole jokingly tells Veronica that he’s glad she’s finally seen the light, thanking her for the forgiveness. With that, the two are on better terms than ever before, which puts Cole at ease. However, he tells Veronica that he’s worried with Scott as the HOH, especially if he’s mad enough about the losses of Joshua and Paul to nominate the two HOHs who did them in. She agrees that there’s a very real chance they’ll end up on the block, but she hopes that Scott is targeting Irene as he claimed to be right after winning the competition.

As the Safety HOH competition approaches, Eliza and Olivia have an alliance meeting with Reese. In the meeting, they tell Reese that they feel secure with Scott as the HOH, so they’re not going to participate in the competition. Reese says that their decision makes sense, since they helped to keep Scott in the game during the first week when he was nearly evicted. However, he states that he is still going to compete, worrying what people might think of him if he feels so secure as to opt out. He also tells Eliza and Olivia that, although he’s not going to try to win, he probably wouldn’t save the two of them if he did manage to win. He tells the two women that it would be better for all of them if their alliance is kept a secret. They both shrug it off, telling Reese that they’re not worried about being nominated anyways.

Just before the Safety HOH competition, Matt asks the houseguests if any of them want to opt out of the competition. Eliza and Olivia both do so, but the other ten eligible houseguests decide to compete. In the DR, Olivia says that she’s surprised that Ashley and Jenna are both competing despite how obviously close they are with Scott. Those who have decided to compete head out into the backyard for the fourth Safety HOH competition of the season; Ashley and Jenna both try their best to win in order to set their plan to get rid of Reese in motion, but it is Veronica that finishes first, while Luke does the worst and becomes the Safety Nominee. Since Luke is the Safety Nominee, Veronica decides to save Cole and Summer. In the DR, Veronica states that she chose to save Cole over Hayden because she doesn’t believe that Scott would ever target Hayden. Ashley is pissed that Hayden wasn’t chosen to be saved, feeling like she’ll have to wait to get rid of Reese another week. Since Luke is the Safety Nominee, he can name five Have-Nots; he chooses Ashley, Irene, Mark, Eliza, and Jenna.

Irene laments her position in the game in the DR, especially since Scott yelled at her to pack her bags. She hopes that he was just blowing smoke, but her gut tells her that she’s going on the block. Still, she swallows her pride and approaches Scott in his HOH room, asking to come in. He doesn’t let her in at first, but eventually decides to at least let her think she has a chance of making a difference. She argues that she has nobody in this game and that getting her out is a waste of an HOH, since there are so many other people that will do so later on. Again, Irene throws Luke and Veronica under the bus, begging Scott to just nominate two pawns alongside Luke, the Safety Nominee, so that he goes home. Out of pride, Scott pretends not to listen to Irene’s arguments at all, but in reality he seriously considers what she’s saying. He says that Luke does seem to be in a good position in the game right now and could definitely become an adversary in the future. Then again, Irene is gunning for Scott hardcore, so it would be smart to take care of her now while he has the chance.

Scott decides to call Ashley and Jenna in for advice on what he should do, letting them know about the points that Irene brought up. He asks them that, since Luke is the Safety Nominee, if there is any harm in nominating two pawns and pretending he’s backdooring Irene, when he’s actually gunning for Luke to go home. Ashley and Jenna are both very much on board, telling Scott that Irene really isn’t much of a threat, while Luke has a lot of strong and powerful friends in the game - like Veronica, who has been winning competition after competition. Jenna in particular says that Hayden and Reese would be good pawns to nominate in order to enact the blindside. In the DR, Jenna says that her plan to get Reese on the block might just work after all. Scott tells them to not get too excited about the plan, though, because Irene is coming for him so hard that it makes sense for him to just get rid of her. Ashley counters this point, saying that everybody wants to get rid of Irene and she has no allies in the game, while Luke has loads of allies who want to keep him around. Scott considers his two allies’ points very carefully, going back and forth in his mind.

Just before the nominations, Luke tells the audience that he’s really worried now that he’s the Safety Nominee, especially since his closest ally just sent Scott’s closest ally home the previous week. He shares his worries with Summer, hoping that she’ll comfort him as she always does. She can’t really guarantee or reassure him all that much since she doesn’t know what Scott’s going to do, but she does tell him that he has an entire loyal alliance that will be fighting to win POV and take him off the block. Plus, Scott hates Irene so much that he’ll probably just nominate her anyways, reminding Luke that Scott told Irene to pack her bags. Luke tells Summer that she’s right, but also says that things change all the time in Big Brother, so he’s not going to hold out any hope until he knows for sure that he’s safe.

Summer tells Luke that this particular strategy discussion is a bit depressing, telling him that he should just enjoy the nice summer day outside. The two head outside and swim in the backyard, soaking in as many rays as possible. Hayden, who is taking a “nap” on the hammock, can’t help but comment in the DR that shirtless Luke is one of the best sights he’s seen in the game so far. Luke and Summer soon engage in a playful splash fight; a particularly large splash by Luke gets all over Hayden, who feels the need to get revenge on him. In the DR, Summer says that she has the best allies and friends a woman could ask for.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Scott explains how the ceremony will work. He will turn each key in the nomination box, with each key revealing one of his two nominees. He also reminds the House that Veronica, Cole, and Summer have immunity for the week, while Luke is automatically a nominee. With that, he turns the first key, revealing Hayden’s face on the wall. Hayden is very worried all of the sudden, hoping that Irene is the second nominee instead of another pawn. Luckily for him, the second key reveals Irene as the second nominee. Ashley and Jenna do their best to contain their disappointment as Irene takes a seat on the nomination couch. Scott explains that his target is Irene for being a gossipping and antagonistic bitch. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 12 (POV)

Irene fights back against Scott’s tirade, accusing him of faking outrage and insult just to start drama. Scott tells Irene that she should watch herself, since it wouldn’t do her favors if he told Veronica all the things she’s said about her. A flashback is shown of Irene talking with Eliza about Veronica, calling her “Luke’s *** dumpster.” Another flashback is shown; this one shows Irene telling an uncomfortable Marina that she’s seen Veronica have sex with Luke at least five times in the past three days. Various other flashbacks are shown, all of which depict Irene referring to Veronica as a slut. Back in the present day, Irene shrugs, saying that he doesn’t have any dirt on her because she’s not a gossiper. Scott looks at her, genuinely shocked that she hasn’t backed down, before warning her that she might as well self-evict one Veronica hears about everything she’s called her. In the DR, Irene says that there’s no way that Veronica will believe Scott, since he’s known for stirring the pot just to advance himself further in the game. During the entire exchange, the other houseguests are frozen in shock, with Luke and Veronica both wondering what Irene could have possibly said about them this time.

Luke and Veronica feverishly discuss what just occurred, with Luke in particular wondering what Irene could have possibly been spreading to the House. He hopes that her rumors haven’t hurt his position in the game or have made him look like a terrible person to America. Veronica rolls her eyes, assuring him that he’s perfectly fine - the rumors are probably only about her. In the DR, she tells the audience that whatever Irene said must have been pretty awful for even Scott to be offended by it. She says that she honestly feels badly for Irene, who is so pathetic and insecure that she has to bring other people down to feel better. Just then, Scott walks into the room and breathes a sigh of relief, glad to have finally found them. Luke asks him panickedly what Irene said about them; Scott warns them that it’s not good before repeating every single awful remark Irene made about Veronica to the two of them. When he’s finished, Luke’s face turns bright red - so much so that he looks like he’s about to literally blow smoke through his ears. He says that he doesn’t care if he gets ejected, he’s ready to slug that bitch right in the face. Veronica grabs his arm, holding him back from doing anything that he may regret. She tells him that she understands his instinct to defend her from Irene, but promises that she’s fine. She thanks Scott for letting them know about these remarks before she asks him to leave so she can talk with Luke alone.

When Scott leaves, Luke says that he’s still really, really pissed at Irene. Veronica begs him to calm down; while Irene’s remarks were definitely disgusting, fighting her will just bring him down to her level. He claims to not care anymore, simply wanting Irene to get what’s coming to her - he would rather lose than let Irene get away with her behavior. Veronica promises Luke that she’ll handle it, telling him to do something else to take his mind off of Irene and her antics. In the DR, Veronica tells the audience that, while she appreciates Luke’s concern from her, she has self-agency and can deal with the situation on her own.

Luke heads to the backyard and lifts weights as aggressively and angrily as one can lift weights. Cole, who is working out nearby, can sense his anger and asks him what’s wrong. He responds that he heard every single thing that Irene has said about Veronica throughout the course of the game, and a lot of it is really ugly. He goes through every comment in detail, getting more and more angry with each story he tells. Once he’s done, Cole asks him why he’s out in the backyard lifting weights instead of confronting Irene. Luke tells Cole that Veronica told him to do something to take his mind of the issue… which Cole reminds him isn’t exactly working. Luke laughs a bit, apologizing for forcing his issues onto Cole. Cole says it's fine, admitting that he’s not very surprised to hear Irene say all of those things anyways. The two men resume their workout, with Luke doing his best to forget about Irene’s gossip. In the DR, he expresses his gratitude for Cole, just because the guy is such a good listener.

Elsewhere, Mark and Reese attempt to comfort Hayden after his nomination, but his only reaction is to laugh uncontrollably. He explains that there’s no way in Hell that Irene will survive the vote, so he’s not worried in the slightest about getting even a single vote to go home. Plus, even if that weren’t the case, he has the votes from the two of them plus Cole, Veronica, and Summer - which is a majority. Still, Mark argues that it can’t be all that fun to be on the block. Hayden agrees with him, but admits that he hated the block a lot more when he was up against Eliza and Marina, where his survival was less guaranteed. Reese tells the group that he’s surprised he hasn’t been approached as a pawn, wondering why Hayden is always the go-to. Hayden starts cackling; in the DR, he asks if Reese is actually jealous over not being used as a pawn. Mark seems similarly shocked by Reese’s thinking, telling him that being a pawn is a bad thing, not a good one. In the DR, Mark wonders if Reese’s go-with-the-flow, not really playing the game attitude is all a ruse. He thinks that Reese might be overcompensating with acting useless to the point where he WANTS to be a pawn just to continue that narrative. Mark says that he hates to doubt his best friend in the game, but Big Brother is a $500,000 game - who knows what Reese could be lying about to win?

All around the House, all of the discussions seem to revolve around Irene. Ashley and Jenna also talk about her, with Jenna expressing how happy she is to see Irene’s game crumbling in so spectacular a fashion. Ashley laughs, but also admits that she feels terrible for Veronica, who has to bear the brunt of Irene’s abusive comments and behavior. Jenna of course agrees wholeheartedly, finding it legitimately disgusting how Irene’s obvious jealousy issues are evolving into a next-level hatred. She remembers how tame Irene was at the beginning of the game - all she did was act stuck-up instead of legitimately terrorizing others for her own personal benefit. Ashley urges the audience to not end up like Irene and to recognize when others might be following her path so that they can stop them, since idly standing by makes you part of the problem.

Veronica finds Irene and asks to talk to her, telling her that she’s heard everything she’s said about her. Irene doesn’t say anything, simply looking at Veronica with the guiltiest expression imaginable. Veronica promises her that she’s not mad at her, just disappointed that she would stoop so low out of jealousy. She asks her what she can do to get her to stop gossipping about her; Irene still doesn’t talk, unsure of what to say. In the DR, Irene tells the audience that she has lived her entire life tearing other people down to bring herself up in the competitive business world, admitting that she knows no other methods of getting what she wants. Irene simply says “sorry”, promising to stop gossipping for real this time. Veronica doesn’t believe her, but pretends to, feeling content with the conversation. In the DR, she says that Irene at least realized that what she’s doing is wrong, which is hopefully enough to get her to learn from her mistakes in the future.

At the Veto Player Pick, Scott randomly draws Mark and Olivia to join him, as the HOH, as well as the nominees (Hayden, Irene, and Luke) in competing for the fourth Power of Veto of the season. All of the competitors give it their all to prevent Irene from winning, but they can tell that Irene is barely trying to win anyways. Feeling like Irene has accepted her fate, Luke strolls easily to victory and the right to take a nominee of the block.

Since it’s obvious that Luke will use the Power of Veto on himself and because he’s the Safety Nominee, Scott knows that he won’t have to name any replacement nominees this week. Therefore, he decides to enjoy the rest of his day instead of worrying about strategy, content to see that Irene will finally be sent home. He takes this extra time to get to know some of the houseguests he hasn’t talked to much, like Cole, Hayden, and Summer. The four of them all have a really nice conversation about their families and their lives outside of the House. Cole tells the group that he’s been really missing his girlfriend lately; the fact that Cole has a girlfriend still stings Hayden a little. Summer relates to Cole, admitting that she never realized just how much she appreciated the little things about her family, friends, and her boyfriend until she was separated from them. Scott says that, while he misses his wife, she’s probably very, very relieved to finally have some time away from him. Cole gasps upon hearing that Scott has a wife; Summer excitedly asks him how long he’s been married. He says that they only just got married a few months prior, which the others find really fascinating. Hayden sheds a fake tear, joking about how much sappy love stories get to him; Scott laughs, calling him an asshole. In the DR, Hayden promises that, although he made fun of Scott’s marriage, he finds it adorable that there’s a woman out there who can tolerate Scott’s out-there personality.

Luke throws himself a little party for winning the Power of Veto, admitting to Veronica that his anger over the Irene situation fueled him to dominate the competition. This reminds Veronica to let Luke know about the conversation she had with her - specifically, how Irene seemed to realize the error of her ways and, despite not really offering an explanation behind her behavior, seeming guilty enough to want to change. Luke is shocked that Veronica managed to have any sort of productive conversation with Irene, congratulating her on her people skills.

Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, and Olivia all meet together in one of the bedrooms before the Veto Ceremony, congratulating each other on another week that they’ve managed to stay fully intact. As a subtle hint to Eliza and Olivia that they’re catching onto them, Jenna says that she’s amazed that they’ve all managed to stay 100% loyal to the alliance (and their deal with Scott) without forming any side alliances. Upon hearing this comment, Eliza shoots Olivia a look, who does her best not to return it. Ashley notices Eliza’s response to Jenna’s remark, seeing it as confirmation that the two women do indeed have a secret alliance with Reese and possibly Mark as well. In the DR, Ashley says that she doesn’t plan on doing anything about the Eliza-Olivia-Reese mess yet, but as soon as the two women go against her to be loyal to Reese, there will be Hell to pay.

At the Veto Ceremony, Luke makes the obvious decision of using the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block. Since Luke was the Safety Nominee, no replacement is named; this leaves Hayden and Irene as the final nominees for the week. Hayden is very confident about his standing in the House, while Irene knows that she’s going home and seems to have accepted her fate. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 13 (Eviction)

Irene doesn’t bother to interact with any of the other houseguests, simply retreating to the Have-Not Bedroom. Hayden notices this while he’s being consoled by the other houseguests, actually feeling a bit bad for Irene. In the DR, he says that, while Irene definitely deserves to go home for her awful behavior, he feels bad with how terribly the woman has been ostracized by everybody else as a result. Once Hayden’s finally done giving hugs to the other houseguests - all of whom promise not to vote him out - he enters the Have-Not bedroom.

Irene is surprised to see somebody else follow her into the room. Hayden quickly closes the door and asks Irene if she’s okay. Obviously she isn’t, but she says that she’s “fine” to avoid an uncomfortable conversation with Hayden. He shakes his head, telling her that he knows she’s not in a good mood. Eventually, she opens up, telling him that she feels really guilty about how awful she’s treated Veronica throughout her time in the House and how she doesn’t deserve to stay in the House any longer. She even confesses to purposefully throwing the POV competition so that she could go home. Hayden is surprised, telling Irene that nothing in Big Brother is certain until it happens. Irene snaps, telling him that this isn’t about the game; she feels like a legitimately terrible person. He apologizes for being unhelpful, asking her if she wants to share more. She goes on about how she assumed Veronica had it out for her and she wanted to strike back, but she took everything too far and drastically misjudged the situation. Hayden feels for her, telling her that he’s glad to see she has remorse over her actions and hoping that she can grow as a person because of the experience.

Ashley and Jenna congratulate Scott on a successful week, but also warn him that the game is only going to get harder from here on out. Irene is the last truly easy target left in the game; from now on, it’s going to be all-out war between different groups and cliques. Scott agrees, but tells the two ladies that he feels fairly confident for the future with them on his side. Plus, he hasn’t made any truly stupid jokes for a few weeks, hoping that the House has forgiven him for his annoying behavior during the first few weeks. Jenna in particular warns Scott that some people might seem trustworthy, but they are actually self-serving and ready to backstab at any given moment. Of course, she is referring to Eliza and Olivia forming a side-alliance with Reese, mostly to hint to Ashley that it might be time to make a move against them next week. Scott tells the two that he isn’t too worried about being backstabbed, since they seem like very loyal people. Ashley simply states that loyalty is a two-way street and that she’s glad he’s so trustworthy as well before smiling deviously at Jenna. In the DR, Scott says he’s a bit confused by how vague Ashley and Jenna are speaking about loyalty, but he knows that whoever they’re trying to shade, it’s not him.

Jenna asks Ashley what they should do to shake up the House, hopefully with the end result of sending Eliza, Olivia, and/or Reese home. She thinks that telling Mark about their suspicions will not only gain them his trust, but will also plant seeds of distrust between Reese and his other allies. Jenna thinks the idea is brilliant, telling Ashley to seek Mark out right away. Ashley finds Mark, but sees that he’s having an obviously strategic discussion with Cole and Reese. She notes the closeness between Mark and Cole before entering the room and asking to speak with Mark… alone. Cole and Reese are both a little surprised that Ashley would want to talk with Mark, with Cole speculating in the DR that something fishy is going on. Still, the two men leave to let Ashley have her little talk with Mark, reasoning that nothing too terrible could happen.

Immediately, Ashley asks Mark if he trusts Reese. He responds that of course he does, since the two have been best friends in the House since the beginning and everybody knows that. Ashley prods Mark, asking him if he’s 100% sure. Mark simply sits there for a few moments, wondering if it’s a smart idea to tell Ashley the truth. Ashley tells him that she wants to work with him, especially since he was crucial in getting rid of both Joshua and Marina at the beginning of the game. In fact, she feels indebted to him for those votes. This convinces Mark that Ashley is trustworthy, so he tells her about a weird conversation he had with Hayden and Reese where the latter seemed almost jealous that he wasn’t being used as a pawn. Mark speculates that his ally is trying to appear as useless and unthreatening as possible, to the point where Mark is legitimately afraid that Reese will emerge as a late-game threat and backstab him. He concludes by saying he’s probably just overly paranoid, but can’t help but have his doubts in a game for $500,000. Ashley tells Mark that his suspicions are unfortunately correct, mentioning that two of her allies - Eliza and Olivia - have a secret side-alliance with Reese. While she doesn’t have full confirmation of this, there is enough circumstantial evidence in her mind to make the alliance obvious. Now that Mark thinks about it, he can recall seeing Reese talking to the two women out of the blue, but he wrote those instances off as non-strategic conversations. Ashley tells Mark that she, Jenna, and Scott want to do something to prevent this side alliance from backstabbing anybody, asking for his help. Not wanting Eliza and Olivia to take away his main ally, Mark accepts the offer, thanking Ashley for bringing the issue to his attention. In the DR, Mark says that he can’t sit idly by in this game and float to the jury stage - he needs to do something to put himself in a good position.

Summer expresses worries about the future of the game with Luke and Veronica, who are giddy at Irene finally going home. She says that the past eliminations have all been relatively uncontroversial - while there have been close votes, they were mostly between equally liked people and nothing all that shocking has occurred yet (minus the Marina vote). Luke asks her what her point is; Summer says that, when Irene goes home, there is no one that is clearly on the bottom. Since Scott has improved his behavior as of recently, he isn’t really that clear cut of a target - and Summer doesn’t really want him out that badly anyways. She fears that people might come for the two of them (Luke and Veronica) in particular because, thanks to Irene’s gossipping, everyone thinks they’re in a showmance. Her two allies realize that she’s right, realizing that the upcoming HOH competition will be pivotal in the direction of the game. If one of Scott’s allies wins, there’s a very real chance that one of the three of them or Cole could go home.

Cole and Reese eventually return to the bedroom where Ashley and Mark had their strategy talk, and Reese asks him what she wanted. Mark lies, claiming that Ashley just wanted to confirm that the vote was for Irene; Reese seems to accept this explanation solely because he trusts Mark so much, but Cole isn’t buying it for a second. In the DR, Cole states that Ashley is far from an idiot and, even if she was dumb enough to have to confirm that Irene was going home, there’s no reason why she would need to talk to Mark alone to do so. Cole doesn’t think that Mark is going to betray him or anything, but he now has his eyes on Ashley in particular in case she tries to pull anything shady.

Eliza discusses game with Olivia, feeling like everything is going perfectly for them. Ashley and Jenna are still 100% with them, and they’ve managed to pull Scott into their group to make a strong alliance of five. In addition, they have their secret alliance with Reese, who is close enough with Cole, Hayden, and Mark to advocate in the two women’s favor. Plus, nobody sees them as a threat because one of them always ends up placing last in the Safety HOH (minus this week, where neither of them chose to compete). Olivia says she can already imagine the two of them as the final two and can’t wait to pick everybody else off one by one.

At the eviction, nobody even seems to care about what’s going on since Irene’s eviction is so obvious. Besides, she didn’t even try to campaign to save herself. Everyone is instead focusing on the upcoming HOH competition, realizing just how crucial it can be towards the course of the game. The votes are tallied and, by a vote of 10-0, Irene is evicted from the Big Brother House. Irene nods, refuses to even look at any of the houseguests except Hayden (the only one who was planning on hugging her), and quickly departs from the House as the fourth person evicted from the game.

Week 5

Episode 14 (HOH/Safety HOH/Nominations)

After Irene’s eviction, the twelve remaining houseguests are very aware of how crucial the next HOH competition is. Everybody wants power to avoid being taken out by a rival alliance; not a single houseguest throws the competition. In an all-out battle for power, Summer arises as the winner, making her the fifth Head of Household of the season and making those not aligned to her very nervous about the week to come.

Eliza and Olivia are not at all happy to see Summer win, worrying that they or their allies could end up as the targets for the week. Although Olivia tries to show some optimism by stating that, maybe at least the two of them won’t become targets because they’ve both been Safety Nominees before and thus aren’t that good at competitions. Deep down, though, she and Eliza both know that even if they both survive, another ally of theirs will likely go home regardless. Eliza tells Olivia that she hopes Summer decides to go for Scott; in that case, their girls alliance would at least still remain intact. In the DR, Olivia states that the game has been smooth sailing for the first few weeks - maybe besides Eliza’s near eviction - but now, it’s really starting to heat up and there’s no true guarantee of safety anymore besides HOH, Safety HOH, and POV.

Cole, Hayden, Luke, and Veronica all celebrate Summer’s HOH victory with her, feeling quite the opposite from Eliza and Olivia. Cole is sure to point out just how important this HOH competition was, and it fell into the right hands. Summer thanks them all for throwing her a little celebration party, doing a little dance that makes Hayden and Luke chuckle. She then gets down to business, laying out the House dynamics. There’s obviously the five of them, leaving seven other houseguests they need to chose from. Mark and Reese are both quickly ruled out as targets, since they seem to be on the alliance’s side for the time being and aren’t really much of threats either way. This leaves the other five: Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, Olivia, and Scott. A debate begins between the alliance, with some (like Luke and Veronica) wanting to get rid of Scott once and for all, while others (Cole and Hayden) worry that the four girls are all really close and need to be broken up. The arguing between the two pairs starts to get on Summer’s nerves, to the point where she tells her allies that they should wait to figure out a target until after the Safety HOH competition; right now, they all need to focus on winning said competition. From the reactions of all of her allies (except Cole), it is apparent that they assumed they were going to opt out of the competition entirely, but they suddenly realize that it might be smart to compete just to prevent a rival from winning it.

Hayden, Luke, and Veronica discuss this after the alliance meeting, wondering if it really is a smart idea to participate in the Safety HOH. Hayden strongly advocates against joining in on the competition, which Luke and Veronica somewhat agree with; he states that, although it sounds enticing to potentially block a target from winning it, it’s also really risky - one of the three of them could end up placing last and get sent home on their own ally’s HOH. Veronica, while agreeing, still makes the argument that such an occurrence isn’t all that likely and that it might be worth the risk if one of them can prevent immunity from getting in the hands of somebody on the other side of the House. Luke also worries that Summer would get mad at them if they chicken out and don’t compete, especially if it ended up thwarting her plans. In the DR, Veronica says that it’s definitely a huge dilemma and, no matter what decision she makes, there’s a very real chance it bites her in the butt - and fast.

Scott tells Ashley and Jenna that he feels hopeless now that Summer is the HOH, feeling like he might as well pack his bags now since it’s a foregone conclusion that Summer is gunning for him. Jenna, instead of feeling bad for him, genuinely asks him why. A bit confused, he states that Summer and her allies are on the opposite side of the House and have targeted him both times they’ve won power. Jenna, while saying this is true, reminds Scott of the Safety HOH. Specifically, she tells him that, since Summer’s allies probably feel super secure right now, they might all opt out of the competition - making it a lot easier for one of them to win. He realizes that Jenna’s right and is amazed that he hadn’t looked at it that way, hoping that Summer’s alliance doesn’t figure this out and decide to compete. Ashley chimes in, also reminding Scott that Summer’s alliance has tried to get him out twice and has failed both times, confident that they’ll fail a third time as well. Scott chuckles, thanking the two women for helping him see the bright side. In the DR, Scott says that Ashley and Jenna are far better allies than Joshua and Paul were - mostly because the two ladies can actually hold their own in the game.

Before the fifth Safety HOH competition commences, Matt asks the houseguests if any of them would like to opt out. After mulling it over for a bit, Hayden, Luke, and Veronica all decide to opt out, much to the shock and frustration of Cole and Summer. In the DR, Cole states that he can’t even comprehend why almost all of his allies decided not to compete, calling it a “braindead” decision on their part. The eight houseguests who opted in compete hard in the fifth Safety HOH competition of the season; in the end, the worst fears of Summer and her allies are realized when Jenna manages to snag the title. She smiles deviously before announcing that she is saving Ashley and Scott from the threat of eviction. Realizing their mistake, Hayden, Luke, and Veronica can’t help but watch on in horror as they realize that all three of their potential targets are immune. However, they do find some solace in the fact that Olivia, for placing last, is the Safety Nominee for the week. She names Hayden, Luke, Veronica, Cole, and Reese as the Have-Nots for the week, drawing a clear line in the sand.

Things are not nearly as cheery in the HOH room now that all of the actual threats that Summer was considering getting rid of are immune. Cole goes off on his other allies, apologizing for being harsh but stating that it was idiotic of them to opt out of such a crucial competition. Luke feels awful, but states that he was really paranoid about becoming the Safety Nominee again, not wanting to take such a huge risk. Cole, although understanding of this, says that he, along with Hayden and Veronica, should have taken one for the team by giving it their all to prevent somebody like Jenna from winning. Too annoyed to stay in the room any longer, Cole throws his hands up and exits the room. Summer can see how guilty her fellow allies look, especially after Cole’s tirade, but tells them that she did warn them what would happen if they didn’t give it their all in the competition. The three of them all apologize, clearly not believing that something so detrimental to their plans could occur.

Moving on from the scolding, Summer tells them all that they need to come up with a new plan now. Olivia is firmly with the opposing alliance and is on the block as the Safety Nominee, so they could just target her now. Although not nearly as good as getting out a big threat, it’s better than losing an ally. Luke states that getting her out is all dandy, but Summer needs to nominate two people and the only houseguest in the opposing group that is even eligible for nominations is Eliza. Veronica chimes in with her idea: nominate Mark and Reese as pawns, and either backdoor Eliza or keep them on the block and get rid of Olivia. Either way, she’d have to nominate one of them - why not just do both? Summer likes the plan, but is also worried if Olivia somehow manages to win the Veto and takes herself off. Luke simply shrugs, saying they could just vote Reese out, who isn’t really useful to their alliance anyways. This comment bothers Hayden due to his side alliance with Reese; in the DR, Hayden complains that he finds he’s towards the bottom of his alliance with Luke, Summer, and Veronica, which is especially evident in how they don’t usually listen to his ideas. Hayden tells the group that it would make more sense to just put Eliza up so that either she or Olivia remains on the block no matter what, but Summer and the others are adamant that Mark and Reese should go up as pawns.

Hayden is very annoyed with his allies, leaving the room as soon as the discussion is over. He finds Cole and fills him in on everything he missed - specifically, the plan to nominate Mark and Reese as pawns to send Olivia home. Cole stares at Hayden blankly and asks if he’s joking; when Hayden says he’s being dead serious, Cole sits there in shock. He asks Hayden how it’s even possible that they’re actually that dumb. In the DR, Cole says he’s way more mad at how idiotic the plan is than he is over Summer wanting to nominate two of his allies. Cole and Hayden decide to immediately inform Mark and Reese of this; the two are similarly confused over the idea, wondering why on Earth they wouldn’t just throw Eliza on the block. It’s literally risk-free! Hayden argues that Luke, Summer, and Veronica must have ulterior motives - they probably know about this side alliance and want to break it up somehow. Hayden even brings up to Reese how Luke said that they would vote him out if the plan failed and how he called him “useless” to the alliance. Fuming, Reese says that he’s sick and tired of Veronica and her boy toy trying to control the game. Mark begs him to calm down, promising that they’ll get through the week either way and that Eliza or Olivia will go home - of course omitting the fact that he knows Reese is secretly aligned with the two girls. In the DR, Reese is very upset that, no matter what happens, he’ll lose an ally this week. At this point, all he can hope for is that he survives to see Week 6.

The mood is a lot more positive for Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, Olivia, and Scott, who all celebrate the miraculous Safety HOH win courtesy of Jenna. Ashley laughs at how awful a decision it was for most of Summer’s allies to completely neglect the competition as if it didn’t matter. Scott finds it even funnier how terrified they all looked when Jenna won, betting $100 that they’re upstairs right now scrambling to come up with a new target. Olivia, although glad that her allies are safe, is also a bit scared due to her status as the Safety Nominee. Still, she feels a lot more optimistic for the week now that Summer is forced to nominate somebody outside of their alliance. Once the group finishes their little celebration, Eliza asks Jenna why she saved Scott instead of her. Jenna quickly comes up with a justification - she reasoned that Summer was going for Scott hard, so it would do more damage to her plans if she saved him. She also tells Eliza that she’d be far more likely to stay in a vote than Scott would, which Eliza sees as a compliment. In fact, Eliza seems to 100% accept Jenna’s reasoning - even though the real reason Jenna didn’t save her was because she doesn’t trust her at all. In the DR, Jenna says she expects Summer to nominate Eliza - and she wouldn’t be all that upset if that happened.

At the Nomination Ceremony, a nervous Summer explains how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, which will reveal the identity of the first nominee. She will then do the same thing with the other key to reveal the second nominee. She reminds the House that Jenna, Ashley, and Scott all have immunity from being nominated, while Olivia is automatically nominated. Summer turns her first key, revealing Reese as the first nominee. Expecting it, Reese does his best to contain his anger as he sits on the nomination couch. Ashley noticeably smiles upon seeing Reese as the first nominee, but that smile fades when Summer turns her second key, revealing Mark as the second nominee - not because she’s that sad to see him nominated, but more because she has no idea what Summer is trying to do. Summer explains that she nominated Mark and Reese as pawns to get rid of Olivia. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 15 (POV)

Summer hugs Mark and Reese after the Nomination Ceremony, again promising them that they’re both just pawns and that her goal is to get rid of Olivia or Eliza. Mark shakes her head at her, which makes her feel a bit guilty. He and Reese quickly leave the room after giving hugs to everybody to talk about what they should do know that they’re on the block. Eliza, meanwhile, tells the audience via the DR that she can’t understand or believe how she managed to escape the block, but she’s grateful to have done so regardless. She hugs Olivia tightly, promising her that she’ll stay in the House this week. Ashley and Jenna also give Olivia hugs, but mostly as a formality to deceive her into thinking they still trust her.

Cole brings up his concerns over Summer’s plan to her in the HOH room. He tells her that he really likes her, which is why she deserves his honest opinion for her game moves. Summer nods as Cole explains why her move is too risky and shouldn’t have been made, especially with the decision to not nominate Eliza. Summer eventually responds, telling Cole that he’s right and she probably made the wrong move, but she was so rattled by the results of the Safety HOH competition that she wasn’t able to think her game decisions through very well. She takes the time to complain about Hayden, Luke, and Veronica for opting out of the competition and screwing her over, even going so far as to state that Hayden and Luke in particular aren’t pulling their weight for the alliance. Although Cole doesn’t like to hear his best friend Hayden being maligned, he understands Summer’s points and seems to agree with her. Summer takes the opportunity to tell Cole that he seems like the only other person in the House with any brains and/or sanity left, offering him a final two. Cole simply outstretches his arm and shakes Summer’s hand, agreeing to the deal without saying a word. He playfully winks at Summer, too, before leaving the HOH room. In the DR, Cole says that Summer is a really smart girl that he would love to align with, believing that her strategic insight could help both of them make it to the end.

Luke and Veronica cuddle together on the hammock, clearly not caring as much about not being seen as an item compared to earlier in the game. Veronica has noticed that, now that they actually have power, everything seems to be going wrong for them. Luke agrees, also worrying about how the two of them might stand with their allies after refusing to compete for Safety HOH. He says that he’s noticed Cole acting really short with the two of them lately, likely out of disappointment for opting out. Veronica argues in Cole’s favor, now aware that it was a terrible decision on their part. She even suggests that they apologize to Cole for not only screwing over the plan, but also for making him solely responsible for winning the competition for the alliance. After all, she’s worried that he could see them as useless and find himself a new alliance if they don’t reach out to him.

Luke follows Veronica’s suggestion by approaching Cole, asking if they can have a candid talk. Cole hopes that Luke is apologizing for his bone-headed move earlier on in the week, so he agrees to have the discussion. Luke immediately tells Cole just how much he regrets not playing in the Safety HOH and how selfish of a decision it was. He feels bad for forcing Cole to try to win for the entire alliance when he, along with Hayden and Veronica, should have been brave enough to compete. In the DR, Cole says that, while he’s still a bit peeved over the situation, he could tell that Luke was sincerely sorry on behalf of all of the sit-outs. He forgives Luke and says that it’s all good and that in no way is the alliance going to break apart. The two bro-hug before Luke heads back outside to tell Veronica that the conversation went well.

Mark tells Reese that, while the two of them have both been not exactly giving their 100% in competitions, this particular POV competition is essential for their survival. If Olivia or one of her allies wins, she’s going to get taken off and one of the two of them will go home. Reese hates the idea of not throwing a competition, not at all wanting the extra attention that comes with it, but does realize just how important the competition is for himself and his closest ally. In the DR, he complains about how, no matter what happens, one of his allies is going home. At this point, all he can do is hope that it’s not him who’s going home. The two guys pump each other up a little bit to boost their confidence, since confidence is half the battle.

Jenna can’t help but laugh with Ashley and Scott over Summer’s bizarre nominations, especially since they immediately followed all three of them winning immunity in one fell swoop. She legitimately wonders what Summer’s thought process was in NOT nominating Eliza, predicting that Olivia will get taken off the block and Mark and Reese, the supposed pawns, will be the final nominees. Ashley laughs at the possibility of that happening, picturing Summer and her allies’ pissed off faces when another plan of theirs blows up in their faces. Scott tells the two ladies that he thought he was the dumbest person in the House, but it seems like Summer and co. are gunning for the position hard. Both women cackle at Scott’s joke, mostly enthusiastic about Reese finally ending up on the block. When Ashley and Jenna manage to get time away from Scott, they restate how important it is that Olivia gets taken off the block. Even though they don’t trust her at all anymore, having Mark and Reese as the final nominees would make it very easy for them to get rid of the root of the distrust - Reese.

At the Veto Player Pick, Summer is very distraught to draw Olivia’s chip; she picks Jenna to compete. Jenna is bit surprised, but is happy to be chosen anyways. Summer also randomly draws Ashley to compete, making it even worse for her plan to get rid of Olivia. In the fifth Power of Veto competition of the season, everybody tries their absolute hardest to win. Once the competition is over, though, it is Olivia that reigns victorious, earning herself the POV.

The Veto results send the majority of the House into full panic mode at the worst case scenario occurring. Hayden tells his allies that he knew that Summer should have nominated Eliza and that, now, either Mark or Reese will go home. Summer begs everybody to calm down, telling them that they need to figure out their new plan now that only Mark or Reese can go. Veronica just shakes her head, saying that the entire week has f*cking sucked for them all. Cole can’t help but feel angry at his allies for messing up so badly with the week - their one chance to take out a big threat or even somebody not aligned with them has failed.

Ashley, Eliza, Jenna, Olivia, and Scott throw a frenetic party at the results of the POV competition, still unable to believe just how awfully the other alliance played the week. Olivia swings her POV necklace like a chain around her neck, elated to have foiled Summer’s plans. Everyone else in the room - even Ashley and Jenna - congratulate her on her win, happy to see the others crash and burn so spectacularly. Eliza, though, isn’t so happy. Although she’s enthusiastic to be safe for the week alongside Olivia, she’s worried that Reese could end up leaving unless she and Olivia campaign hard against Mark. She decides to wait to campaign until after the Veto Ceremony, but is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep her secret alliance intact. Ashley has the opposite opinion - she is excited to finally get Reese’s ass out of the House so that Eliza and Olivia will come scurrying back to them where they belong.

Mark and Reese, realizing that they’re going to be separated by the end of the week, have a solemn and pissed-off meeting in the Storage Room. Reese asks what they’re going to do now; with regret, Mark says it might be time for them to campaign against each other. After all, only one person can win the half million. Reese shakes his head, telling Mark emotionally that he couldn’t ever campaign against him. He tells Mark that Mark's family needs the money more than he does, saying that he will tell the House to vote him off. Mark urges him not to, saying that he’s not a charity case. He urges Reese to work his ass off to stay instead of rolling over and dying, since there’s still so much game left to play.

At the Veto Ceremony, Olivia, as expected, uses the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block. Since Olivia was the Safety Nominee, no replacement nominee is named; this leaves Mark and Reese, the intended pawns, as the final nominees for the week. Mark says he’s going to fight like Hell to stay, while Reese almost seems ready to go home. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 16 (Eviction)

Cole, Hayden, Mark, and Reese have an emergency alliance meeting after the Veto Ceremony to figure out how they’re going to approach their futures in the game. Reese is quick to tell the group that he wants to go so that Mark can stay, which bothers Hayden and Mark. Hayden begs Reese not to quit and to keep fighting, since the game is never over for anybody until they walk out the door. Reese is adamant that he wants Mark to stay, refusing to let Hayden talk him out of it. Cole agrees, telling Hayden that, if Reese really wants to leave the game, they should help him out by voting for him. In the DR, Hayden feels really bad for Reese for wanting out of the game, but he realizes that Cole is right - it would be a disservice to keep somebody in who doesn’t want to be there any more. Reese also talks in the DR, stating that he’s not quitting - he just thinks that Mark is more deserving of staying in the game and doesn’t want to campaign against his best friend in the House. Cole has a less positive outlook on the situation, saying that while he does respect Reese as a person, he cannot respect his decision to want out of the game. Thousands of people try out to be on Big Brother, and Reese should be grateful to have a shot at winning the grand prize when so many people don’t get that chance.

Reese’s desire to be voted out spreads quickly throughout the House, so it seems that everybody in agreement that Reese needs to go home. That is, everybody except for two people: Eliza and Olivia. The two women decide that, even if Reese wants to go home, he’s far more useful to their game than Mark is. They decide that they need to campaign hard for Reese to stay so that their alliance with them stays intact. Eliza justifies this decision in the DR, stating that, while some of the houseguests might get mad at them for campaigning in favor of someone who wants to leave, they think that voting Reese off would be a bone-headed decision for their game.

The two ladies first campaign to Ashley, Jenna, and Scott, nervous about how they might react but reasoning that they’ll still trust them regardless. Eliza asks them who they’re considering voting for; Ashley, seeing right through Eliza, says impatiently that she’s obviously voting for Reese since the guy is basically quitting, while Mark wants to stay in the game. Jenna and Scott echo her, asking Eliza and Olivia why they’re even asking who the vote is for. Olivia understands their arguments, but makes the case for voting Mark out. If Reese isn’t trying to win, why get rid of him? He’s not a threat at all, while Mark is trying his best to win - which is threatening. Scott is confused by this strange argument, while Jenna somewhat angrily states that it would be disrespectful to get rid of somebody who actually wants to be here over someone who has already checked out and is ready to go. Eliza urges them all to think more strategically, saying that emotions don’t win Big Brother. Sensing that their three allies are not at all on board with voting Reese out, Eliza and Olivia leave the conversation to campaign to the other voters.

Immediately, Ashley expresses her disgust at the two, telling Jenna and Scott that she wants them out next. Jenna agrees, calling the incident proof that Eliza and Olivia are both untrustworthy bitches that don’t deserve to stay in the game any longer. Scott tells them to hold up, very much out of the loop on whatever’s going on. Jenna tells him that she and Ashley suspected Eliza and Olivia had a secret alliance with Reese for a long time, but didn’t tell him those suspicions in case they were wrong. Since it’s obvious that the suspicions were indeed correct, they feel it’s time to blow up the two women’s games. Scott disagrees; while they’re definitely untrustworthy and he found their campaign against Mark to be disgusting, the two are solidly on their side and will be even more so once Reese inevitably leaves this week. Ashley tells Scott that he does have a point - they should wittle the other alliance down at least a tiny bit before striking at Eliza and Olivia. However, she and Jenna both state that they’re not going to campaign for either of them to stay if they end up in danger. In the DR, Scott says he’s shocked that what he assumed was a tight foursome is actually splintered in two, but he’s glad to be on what he thinks is the winning side of that split.

Eliza and Olivia campaign to Hayden, Cole, Luke, and Veronica over voting Mark out instead of Reese, since Mark is clearly the bigger threat. Cole asks them how on Earth that is true; Eliza again argues that Mark is still trying to win while Reese has given up. It makes more sense to drag along somebody who has given up since they won’t try to win any competitions or make any blindsides. Cole just stares at the two women like they’re insane, asking them if they’re being serious or if they’re just making some ridiculously unfunny joke. They promise they’re being serious, urging the group to consider the strategic benefit of keeping Reese in. Luke has had enough, telling them both that they should “consider the strategic benefit” of shutting their f*cking mouths before they get themselves into even more hot water by trying to do something so disgusting as keep a quitter around instead of a guy who’s trying his hardest to win. The remark makes the rest of his allies uncomfortable even though they’re thinking the exact same thing. Eliza tells Luke that he’s clearly an idiot before leaving with Olivia, upset that she couldn’t get the votes to save Reese.

As soon as they leave, Luke tells his allies that he wants those two gone next. He can’t even fathom the logic behind keeping Reese around, finding it disrespectful to every person who auditioned for the show and didn’t get cast. Cole, Veronica, and even Hayden agree; Hayden says that, while he respects Reese’s decision, it would be foolish to keep him around instead of fulfilling his wishes. Veronica tells the audience that she’s sick and tired of the opposing alliance and their gross tactics to try and get the upper hand, saying that she won’t rest until Eliza and Olivia are both gone.

At the eviction, Mark and Reese look upset to be separated, but both know what the outcome will be. The votes are tallied: by a vote of 7-2, Reese is evicted from the Big Brother House. Mark and Reese are both confused by the two dissenting votes, while the rest of the House knows exactly which two people were responsible. Mark and Reese say their final goodbyes to each other and hug tightly. Reese waves goodbye to the House and leaves as the fifth person evicted from the House.

Votes for Reese: Ashley, Cole, Hayden, Jenna, Luke, Scott, & Veronica

Votes for Mark: Eliza & Olivia

Week 6 (Round 1)

Episode 17 (HOH/Nominations)

After Reese’s eviction, Matt calls the remaining houseguests into the living room for a series of announcements. First, he announces that, after five weeks, the Safety HOH twist is officially over. From now on, no extra immunity will be given out and there will be no Safety Nominees. Most of the houseguests, especially Luke and Veronica, are happy to see the twist gone due to the risks involved and the potential to ruin an HOH. Matt also announces that, since eleven houseguests remain, the jury phase has officially begun - from here on out, any houseguest who is evicted from the game will become a member of the jury that will vote for the winner on finale night. Hayden is really excited about making it this far, telling the audience through the DR that he feels more empowered than ever to win the game.

With the announcements done, the remaining houseguests (except Summer, the outgoing HOH) compete in the sixth Head of Household competition of the season. With the stakes only rising each week, the competition is fierce, but Scott emerges victorious when it’s all said and done. This makes him the new HOH, as well as the first person to win HOH twice this season. Scott beams in the DR, believing that power couldn’t have come at a more convenient time. He is asked to name five Have-Nots for the week; Eliza, Olivia, Summer, Ashley, and Jenna all volunteer, so he chooses them as the Have-Nots.

Ashley, Jenna, and Scott throw a celebration in Scott’s new HOH room, thrilled to have power yet again. The two women tell Scott that they don’t know what they’d do without him and his challenge strength. Scott blushes, clearly fond of their compliments. He promises his wife through the DR that he only has a friendly relationship with the two and that they’re not even half as beautiful as she is, but that she could give him a few more compliments from time to time. Eventually, they all settle down and start to plan out the week. Ashley quickly throws Eliza and Olivia under the bus, practically begging Scott to nominate them since they’ve shown just how untrustworthy they are. Although Scott agrees with her that the two women can no longer be trusted, he reminds his allies that they aren’t coming after the three of them either way. He thinks that Luke and Veronica make the most sense as nominees, since there’s a romance brewing between the two of them. Jenna disagrees that they should go; she thinks that they are easy targets down the line, while people might forget about Eliza and Olivia betraying the House if they last another week. Scott tells the audience that he thinks Ashley and Jenna have a strange obsession with Eliza and Olivia going home. While he doesn’t like them either, they’re not threats at all to his game and he sees no reason in getting rid of them when there’s a huge alliance of people trying to take him out.

The mood is somber for the other houseguests, who are worried about what Scott might do. Cole and Veronica are especially worried, since they’ve both nominated Scott previously in the game. The six in the room - Cole, Hayden, Luke, Mark, Summer, and Veronica - talk about if it’s possible for them to all stay in the game this week. Although a long shot, Luke’s suggestion is to throw Eliza and Olivia under the bus; after all, Scott is probably just as mad as everybody else after the two women tried to get Mark evicted over Reese, despite Reese’s desire to leave the game. Mark, who didn’t know about this before, asks why they would even want to do something like that. Summer tells him that their argument was that Reese is less of a threat because he isn’t trying to win. This makes Mark angry; he states that he loved Reese like a brother, but it would just be rude of the House to go against his wishes to leave for some idiotic “strategic” reason.

Cole and Summer, representing their entire alliance, approach Scott in his HOH room to argue for Eliza and Olivia to go up. Summer starts talking, pointing out that the two ladies’ persistence and devotion to keep Reese in proves that they’re not only unemotional and crooked people, but that they’re also very committed and strategically dangerous. Cole picks up from there, arguing to Scott that, while he might think he trusts Eliza and Olivia, this trust is unfounded. Eliza and Olivia have proven through their actions the previous week that loyalty and honesty are foreign concepts to them. In the DR, Scott expresses that Cole and Summer have given him a lot to think about; even though he’s still leaning on the gut decision of nominating Luke and Veronica, he at least appreciates that their alliance talked with him and brought up good points as to why Eliza and Olivia should go. Cole pitches that, if Scott were to nominate Eliza and Olivia, he and Summer would feel indebted to him and would do anything in their power to keep him safe as long as they could. Scott nods along, genuinely interested in the idea of working together with them. He says that no matter what, he will not nominate either of them and he’ll strongly consider putting Eliza and Olivia on the block. Cole and Summer thank him before leaving, hoping to God that their pitch was successful. Cole tells the audience that he think he brought up some really good points and made a bona fide deal with Scott; whether or not he takes him up on the offer remains to be seen.

Luke and Veronica cuddle on the hammock as usual, but there is a noticeable silence between the two. Eventually, Luke breaks the silence by saying aloud what both of them are thinking: they are going on the block together this week. Neither of them bother to hold out hope that their allies can change Scott’s mind, since he seems like somebody who doesn’t readily flip or give in to temptation. In the DR, Veronica tells the viewers that she’s already accepted she’s getting nominated; instead, she’s focusing 100% of her attention on winning the POV and sending Scott home as soon as she possibly can. She and Luke briefly kiss while on the hammock, assuming that the entire House already knows that they like each other anyways.

Cole, Hayden, and Mark have a meeting in the Have-Not bedroom to pick up the pieces after Reese’s eviction. Cole quickly fills them in on his conversation with Scott, who he thinks might actually consider nominating Eliza and Olivia. Either way, he suspects that Scott would leave all three of them alone for the week unless he really needs a pawn to send somebody else home. Mark agrees, believing that Scott probably has his eyes on splitting Luke and Veronica up this week. Therefore, all the three of them need to do is survive a few more evictions before they can really start to control the game. In the DR, Cole says that his ideal final three is with Hayden and Mark, as he believes that both of them would take him to the finals in that scenario. Mark admits to the group that he’s been struggling a bit with Reese gone, but he’s glad that he still has true friends in the House like them. The trio group hugs - or, in other words, Cole and Mark tightly squeeze Hayden while erupting in laughter.

Olivia tells Eliza that she’s worried about nominations this week. Eliza is confused, asking why Scott would nominate them. Olivia reminds her that he, Ashley, and Jenna seemed kinda peeved when they campaigned for Reese to stay, afraid that he’ll be angry enough to nominate them. Plus, Luke blew up at them for the same campaign; it’s very possible that he could have convinced Scott to nominate them out of revenge. Eliza tells Olivia not to worry, since Scott isn’t dumb enough to nominate two loyal allies when the House is full of people that actually want him out.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Scott explains how the ceremony will work. He will turn the first key, which will reveal the first nominee. Afterwards, he’ll reveal the second nominee by turning the second key. He tells the houseguests that the decision was really difficult for him before turning the first key. When he does, Luke’s face is revealed on the wall. Cole and Summer look crushed, while Eliza and Olivia smile from ear to ear. Luke takes a seat in one of the nomination chairs as Scott turns the second key, which reveals Veronica as the second nominee. Veronica doesn’t react, sitting down next to her showmance partner. Scott again explains that the nominations were difficult, but states that he feels Luke and Veronica are the biggest threats to his game. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 18 (POV)

After Scott’s nominations, Luke and Veronica hug each other tightly and are consoled by the other houseguests. However, for a lot of them, there is a sense of relief in escaping the block; Olivia in particular feels like she’s dodged a bullet and could have easily been nominated. Despite fully expecting to go on the block, Luke and Veronica are both a bit upset that it’s official. They hope that one of them or an ally of theirs can win the POV, which would give them both a chance to avoid separation. In the DR, Veronica tells the audience that the game is on for real now, and she’s not settling for 11th place.

The pair meets with Cole, Hayden, and Summer in one of the bedrooms to come up with a way to approach the rest of the week. They all agree that, if the POV is used on Luke or Veronica, Scott will almost definitely nominate another person in their group. That is, unless they can successfully push the target on Eliza or Olivia. Cole strongly believes that it won’t be possible to convince him to nominate one of them, but it’s worth a shot. However, they need to wait until after the POV competition - after all, it’s possible that none of them will win it and the nominations will stay the same. Summer agrees, telling the group that they should try to relax and enjoy life in the House until it’s time to strategize. In the DR, Summer tells the audience that she finds herself agreeing with what Cole has to say a lot, thinking it might be a good idea to ditch the sinking ship of Luke and Veronica to seek out a long-term alliance with him.

In the backyard, the houseguests decide to let loose and have some fun. An excited Cole reveals that he brought 12 packs of water balloons with him into the House, much to the surprise of the other houseguests. He admits that he wanted to wait until jury to whip them out so that it could be a little celebration for everyone who made it this far. All of the houseguests soon engage in an all-out water balloon war; Luke throws one particularly hard right in Veronica’s face, while Mark gets crafty by hiding behind the outdoor furniture and getting surprise shots in. Eventually, Jenna tells everyone that she has an idea to raise the stakes; she fills a bunch of balloons with slop, throwing one of them directly into Ashley’s hair. Laughing, Ashley gets her revenge by throwing a slop balloon right back. Once the fight is all said and done, all of the houseguests are wet and covered in slop. Eliza confesses that the water balloon fight was easily the most fun part of the game so far and that she really likes the group of houseguests that are left.

After finally getting all of the slop out of her hair, Veronica heads back outside where Luke and Summer are sitting and talking. Specifically, Summer is telling Luke about her favorite childhood memory. As she was walking on the beach as a little girl, a big wave crashed on the beach. One of her favorite things to do when she was young was to chase after waves when they return to the sea. However, this time, she noticed something laying on the sand: a bottle. As a curious girl, she rushed towards the bottle and opened it - there was a message inside! The message was from a young boy about her age who wrote all about his favorite activities - riding bikes, playing soccer, watching cartoons, and playing with his dog named Pepper. She says that the letter filled her with wonder and she spent several years trying to find the writer of the message, but was never able to. All she knew about the boy was that his name was Lucas. Suddenly, Luke’s jaw drops. He tells Summer that his first or second grade teacher had them write messages in bottles about themselves. He also mentions that, back then, he used to go by Lucas and had a dog named Pepper. Summer squeals in excitement, unable to believe that she finally achieved her childhood dream from 20 years ago of finding who had written the message. Veronica finds the coincidence insane and almost unfathomable. In the DR, Summer says that she feels an extra special connection with Luke even more than ever before with the message in the bottle revelation.

Ashley and Jenna, meanwhile, tell Scott that they really think he should have nominated Eliza and Olivia. Jenna argues that, if he had done so, it would have bought them extra time in the House by appealing to the enemy alliance. Scott finds this reasoning ludicrous, reminding his allies that they shouldn’t be focused on buying one or two more rounds - they need to focus on making it all the way. For their long-term game, keeping Eliza and Olivia - two goats - around is far more beneficial than getting rid of them. Ashley and Jenna both disagree, confident that the entire House hates them even more now for not going after the two pariahs. Scott promises them that he’ll consider potentially nominating one of them if the POV is used, but says that it’s very unlikely. Ashley complains about Scott’s refusal to target Eliza and Olivia in the DR, threatening that if he won’t target those two bitches, she’ll do it herself.

At the Veto Player Pick, Mark, Hayden, and Summer are randomly drawn to compete alongside Scott, the HOH, and Luke and Veronica, the nominees, for the sixth Power of Veto of the season. Scott is annoyed with the combination of players, worrying that all of them could potentially use the POV on one of the nominees. As for the competition itself, Summer manages to best the others and wins the sixth POV competition of the season.

Luke, Summer, and Veronica celebrate the triumphant victory in one of the bedrooms, even though they know deep down that whoever isn’t saved by the Veto has a really good chance of going home. Summer promises that she’ll use the power on one of them, but she doesn’t specify whom. In the DR, Summer tells the viewers that she’s really conflicted on who she should save between Luke and Veronica. While Veronica is definitely stronger in competitions and is a greater asset to the alliance as a whole, she felt a really strong personal connection to Luke even before the message in a bottle reveal. The decision is especially difficult for her because she’s worried that whoever she doesn’t save will go home, potentially making it her fault for that person’s eviction.

She decides to ask Cole for advice, trusting his strategic input more than anybody else’s in the entire House. He agrees with Summer that Veronica is a greater physical asset to them overall, but makes a unique argument against the idea that keeping her is a better strategic move. He points out that Scott likely refused to nominate Eliza and Olivia because he saw Luke and Veronica as the bigger threats, with Veronica in particular in mind. If Veronica is out of the picture, there’s a greater chance that Scott or his allies will pass the rest of them over to take a shot at the two outsiders. That way, letting Veronica take the fall, as much as it would suck, could put the surviving members of the alliance in a better position. Summer thanks Cole for the advice, taking it to heart and leaning heavily on saving Luke.

However, figuring out who to save is only half the battle - ideally, Summer would have both Luke and Veronica stay. She approaches Scott and again pitches the idea of nominating Eliza and Olivia, essentially admitting that she’s going to use the POV. Intrigued, Scott asks her for her reasoning; Summer tells Scott that she and Cole both genuinely want to work with him in the future since they see him as a very loyal person. They would both really appreciate it if Eliza or Olivia were targeted instead; she understands that Scott is close with both of them, but they’ve proven their disloyalty and have been coasting through the game so far. She argues that somebody needs to take a stand against them before they hatch more evil plots. He thanks her for taking the time to talk to him, but tells the viewers that he’s unconvinced by her arguments. He thinks that Cole and Summer would both target Ashley and Jenna before him regardless if he nominated Eliza/Olivia or not. Still, he wonders if he should just go with what everybody in the House wants instead of making too many waves.

At the Veto Ceremony, Summer tells the House that she debated for a long time on who to save before announcing her decision to remove Luke from the block. Luke is a little shocked, but is relieved to be safe. Scott stands up, apologizes in advance for making an unpopular move, and nominates Hayden as the replacement nominee. Eliza is confused as to why nominating Hayden would be unpopular, but Olivia knows in her heart that the entire House is throwing her under the bus. Hayden simply smiles and sits down calmly next to his ally Veronica. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 19 Part 1 (Eviction #1)

Luke hugs Summer very tightly after the Veto Ceremony, beyond grateful that she decided to save him with the POV. In the DR, he tells the viewers that he’s really surprised with Summer’s decision, since he always saw Veronica as far more useful to the alliance than he ever could be. He also makes sure to hug Veronica, who is despondent after the results of the Veto Ceremony. Not only did she not get saved; the person next to her is Hayden, who nobody in their right minds would ever want to get rid of. She’s happy for Luke, of course, but she wishes she could be in his shoes.

Noticing that Veronica is upset to likely be going home, Luke asks Cole, Hayden, Summer to join him in making what will likely be her last few days in the House as fun and enjoyable as possible. He lets them in on a secret: Veronica’s birthday is actually the next day, but she didn’t want anybody to know because of the unwanted attention. Together, the four of them plan a schedule to ensure that Queen Veronica, as she will be referred to, lives like royalty for the day. In the morning, she will enjoy breakfast in bed made by Cole, followed by an hour-long massage in the afternoon delivered by Summer. Throughout the day, Bartender Hayden will provide her with delicious beverages whenever she wants them. Finally, she will enjoy a romantic watching of the sunset - at least, what can be seen of it from the House - whilst cuddling with Luke on her favorite hammock.

The next day, Veronica wakes up to Cole bestowing a tray full of delicious breakfast food. She is overwhelmed by not only how much food there is, but how kind it was of Cole to make her an individual gift for her birthday… which causes her to realize that she never told Cole when her birthday was. She asks him how he knew; he simply says “Luke” before leaving the room. Veronica gets emotional in the DR, honestly stating that Luke is one of the sweetest, nicest people she’s ever met in her entire life. Few of her friends back at home would celebrate her birthday in this way. Things only get more amazing when she learns later on in the day that Hayden will be providing her with the best drinks he can make and Summer will give her an hour-long massage.

During the massage, Summer apologizes to Veronica for not using the POV on her, promising that her move was a strategic one and not at all personal. Veronica shrugs it off, saying that she’s more than content to go home after experiencing such a great birthday celebration. She tells Summer that she feels she’s already grown so much from the Big Brother experience while meeting a lot of new friends she believes she’ll keep for the rest of her life. Queen Veronica relaxes as Summer gives her the best (and only, so far) massage of her life. Once the massage is over, Veronica groans in disappointment that it’s over, but thanks Summer from the bottom of her heart for participating in the birthday celebration.

As the day winds down, Veronica and Luke enjoy the romantic sunset, as planned. Veronica tells Luke that she’s really going to miss him when she goes home. She commands him to win the game for the both of them before giving him a kiss on the cheek. Luke tells her that he never thought he’d meet a girl as amazing as her on Big Brother. They both hold hands, enjoying one of their last nights together in the House. In the DR, Luke says that he doesn’t want to sound sappy, but lets the viewers know that he’s going to miss Veronica so, so much when she goes. He pledges to keep Veronica’s words in mind: he will win for her.

Just before the eviction, Cole, Mark, and Hayden talk in the Have-Not room. Cole and Mark both promise Hayden that he’ll stay this week and that they’ll get rid of Eliza and Olivia as soon as they get the chance. Hayden thanks them both, admitting that he’s way more sad to see his friend Veronica go than he is to be on the block. In fact, he says he’s really optimistic for their future in the game; he doesn’t see anybody targeting them for a while - at least, long enough for them to get firm control of the game. Both alliances are targeting their other members, mostly leaving the three of them untouched. Mark predicts that they will be the last three people left, not seeing a scenario where that doesn’t occur.

At the eviction, Hayden and Veronica both hold hands as the votes are tallied. Luke and Summer in particular look really distressed and sad throughout the entire voting process, likely because they both know what the result of the vote will be. By a vote of 6-2… Veronica is evicted from the Big Brother House. Veronica hugs all of her allies (especially Luke) very tightly, gives light hugs to the other houseguests, and waves goodbye before leaving the House as the first member of the jury.

Votes for Veronica: Ashley, Cole, Eliza, Jenna, Mark, & Olivia

Votes for Hayden: Luke & Summer

Week 6 (Round 2)

Episode 19 Part 2 (Eviction #2)

After Veronica’s eviction, Matt tells the ten remaining houseguests that this week is a Double Eviction week, meaning that another houseguest will be leaving the House very shortly. Although many of the houseguests saw it coming, everybody is still nervous for what might happen in such a short window of time. The remaining houseguests (except for Scott, the outgoing HOH) compete in the seventh Head of Household competition of the season; in a short battle, Ashley ends up as the winner and the new HOH.

Jenna tells Ashley to follow the plan that they’ve already devised, while Scott, Eliza, and Olivia all urge her to nominate some combination of Cole, Luke, or Summer. Ashley is clearly overwhelmed by all of the people trying to strategize with her at the same time, but she knew exactly what she was going to do long before she even won the HOH. Still, she pretends to listen to others as they throw each other under the bus or plead for safety, liking the new sense of power that she has as the HOH.

The houseguests all head inside, where Ashley nominates Eliza and Olivia for eviction without hesitation. They’re both a little confused to be nominated, but they assume that Ashley is just using them as pawns to backdoor a bigger threat. Ashley draws Jenna to compete in the POV competition, Eliza draws Houseguest Choice and picks Hayden to compete (since she believes she can beat him), and Olivia draws Luke to compete. These six competitors head back into the backyard for the seventh POV competition of the season, which Luke ends up winning.

Immediately, Eliza and Olivia tell Ashley that they’re worried about Luke not using the POV so she can’t pull off her backdoor plan. Ashley simply looks at the two girls, feigns confusion, and asks “what backdoor plan?”. Immediately, the two women know exactly what’s going on and angrily ask Ashley why on Earth she is targeting them. She just shrugs, asking them why they lied repeatedly to her face before leaving the room to tell Luke not to use the POV.

At the Veto Ceremony, Luke follows Ashley’s demands and decides not to use the Power of Veto to remove either of the nominees. This leaves Eliza and Olivia, who are absolutely shocked by the turn of events, as the final nominees for the round. Both of them campaign for votes, with Olivia telling the group that Eliza is the untrustworthy one while Eliza says that she’s not nearly as big of a threat as Olivia is. Jenna can’t help but sigh at how easily the two supposed best friends are throwing each other under the bus, but she doesn't find their behavior surprising in the slightest.

The houseguests all vote as a shaken-up Eliza and Olivia sit in their nomination chairs, completely unsure of what is about to happen. Eventually, the votes are tallied. By a vote of 6-1… Olivia is evicted from the Big Brother House. The evictee is surprised that Eliza stayed over her and refuses to hug anybody, dramatically leaving the House as the second member of the jury. As she leaves, Ashley and Jenna both crack evil smiles as Scott shakes his head in disappointment.

Votes for Olivia: Cole, Hayden, Jenna, Luke, Mark, & Summer

Votes for Eliza: Scott

Week 7

Episode 20 (HOH/Nominations)

After Olivia’s eviction, the remaining houseguests (except for Ashley, the outgoing HOH) compete in the eighth Head of Household competition of the season. Shaken up from losing her best friend in the House just minutes before, Eliza tries extra hard to win so she can get revenge on Ashley. Despite her efforts, though, she doesn’t win; it’s Hayden that ends up on top in a surprise victory. He jumps for joy upon winning, and his allies hug him tightly as he does so. The others can’t help but look at the celebrating group and feel nervous for what the week entails. Hayden is asked to choose four Have-Nots; he picks Cole, Mark, Luke, and Scott.

Cole and Mark high-five Hayden on his win, with Cole telling Hayden that he didn’t know he had it in him. Hayden punches him in the arm, telling him to shut up and giggling. He then tells his allies that the win was absolutely crucial for advancing them all to the final three. Both men nod as they discuss their options. Option one is to finish the job that Ashley began by getting rid of Eliza. Nobody seems to support the idea, though, mostly because she’s completely alone in the House with Olivia gone and isn’t a threat to any of them whatsoever. Cole discusses a different option - getting rid of Ashley or Jenna. He still believes that they’re really close with one another, and they’ve proven to be strong competitors and strategists. Mark agrees with Cole that one of them should go home, but Hayden is hesitant. He thinks that Scott should be the one to go, since he has won the most competitions out of the three potential targets. Sure, Ashley and Jenna are both smart, but they’ve only won one competition apiece. When Cole and Mark refuse to budge on getting rid of Ashley or Jenna, Hayden makes a compromise - he’ll nominate one of the girls alongside Scott, and the House can decide who goes. Cole, believing he can convince Luke and Summer to vote with him against whichever girl Hayden nominates, agrees to the compromise, and Mark quickly follows suit. In the DR, Mark worries that Cole may be too willing to go along with Hayden’s plans just to please him, but trusts that he knows what he’s doing.

Ashley, Jenna, and Scott are all bummed that Hayden won the HOH competition, knowing that there’s a very good chance one of them will go home. Jenna tells the group that Hayden’s allies would never let him make a decision as dumb as targeting Eliza, who is about as threatening as a newborn puppy now that Olivia is gone. That means that, unless he makes the mistake of nominating Mark, two of the three of them are going on the block. Ashley tells the group that she will be particularly peeved if she ends up on the block after taking one for the team and disposing of Olivia like the entire House wanted.

This reminds Scott of something that happened during the double eviction that bothered him - nobody else voted for Eliza with him. He says that his perception was that Eliza was always the more annoying and shadier member of the duo, but it seems like everybody else disagreed. Jenna tells Scott that she personally voted for Olivia to go because she would be more likely to slip under the radar than Eliza, who is more annoying and confrontational. Ashley agrees with Jenna, telling Scott that she also preferred to see Olivia go. Scott simply nods, telling the two that he’s felt out of the loop on their plans recently. Ashley promises Scott that he’s just as much as a member of the trio as she and Jenna are, and there’s no hierarchy within the alliance. In the DR, though, Ashley contradicts her statement by telling the viewers that she would vote to keep Jenna over Scott in a heartbeat, even though she’s come to love Scott as a person.

Luke and Summer talk with Hayden, asking him if the plan is still to get rid of Scott. He tells them both that other houseguests want Ashley or Jenna out more. Luke shakes his head, telling Hayden that Scott needs to go because he’s the biggest threat outside of their alliance. He has two HOH wins under his belt and has lasted this far in the game despite being a target early on, which makes him an underdog. Hayden promises Luke that he agrees 100%, but that he still needs to nominate somebody alongside Scott either way. Summer warns Hayden that choosing Ashley would be an awful idea, as she did the entire House a favor by disposing of Olivia during the DE. Nominating her after that move would be bona fide betrayal and would make their entire alliance look bad. Luke and Summer push Hayden to nominate Jenna instead, who they think is a bigger strategic threat anyways. In the DR, Hayden tells the viewers that, of course, as soon as he wins HOH, half of his allies want him to do one thing and half want him to do something else. He says that he doesn’t really care much who goes as long as it’s one of the four people he’s not aligned with, admitting that he doesn’t really understand why his other allies seem to care so much about who goes and who stays between their enemies.

Hayden wants to be upfront with his game decisions, so he tells Ashley, Jenna, and Scott that he’s going to nominate two of them. He promises that the decision is strictly strategic and that he genuinely likes them as people. All three of them are really understanding, especially Jenna - who wants to be on Hayden’s good side more than anything. She explains in the DR that she’s starting to get suspicious of Hayden - specifically that he’s more dangerous than he lets on. She has noticed him talking a lot with people beyond his public alliance with Luke and Summer. Of course, Jenna doesn’t want Hayden to know about these suspicions, so she does her best to act as courteous towards him as she can. Once Hayden leaves, Jenna tells them both that she doesn’t trust Hayden at all, promising to sniff out whatever smells fishy to her. Scott tells the audience that he again thinks Jenna is being paranoid, since Hayden couldn’t even hurt a fly.

Just before the nominations, Eliza approaches Hayden and asks him if she’s going home. Hayden tells her that he’s decided not to nominate her, not really seeing the point in going after somebody who’s already been betrayed by an ally. However, he also tells her that he’s probably not going to nominate Ashley either, so she’ll have to wait to get her revenge until later. She promises that she doesn’t really care about getting revenge; she mostly wants to stay in the game another week, thanking him for helping her out. In the DR, Eliza says she isn’t dumb - she knows she’s in a terrible position in the House. However, she is confident that, if she can lie low for a few more rounds, people might even forget she’s in the game at all - allowing her to coast to the end.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Hayden explains how the ceremony will work. He will turn his first key, which will reveal the first nominee. He’ll then turn the second key, revealing the second nominee. After telling the group just how hard nominations get as the game goes on, Hayden pulls the first key - which reveals Scott as his first nominee. Scott sits down calmly, glad that Hayden at least warned him beforehand. Hayden turns his second key, which reveals Jenna as the second nominee. Ashley breathes a loud sigh of relief as Jenna mirrors Scott’s calmness when she sits down in her nomination chair. Hayden explains that his decision was purely strategic and that he sees Jenna and Scott as the two biggest threats in the House. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 21 (POV)

Ashley, Jenna, and Scott hold a meeting immediately after the Nomination Ceremony to discuss what they should do next. Scott tells the group that their best hope for survival is for Ashley to win the POV and save one of them, but even that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll all survive the week. Jenna says pessimistically that she’s certain either she or Scott will go home, thanking her allies for a good seven weeks in the game. Scott tells her that such an attitude won’t help anything, and he has overcome far worse circumstances earlier in the game when the entire House wanted him gone. Jenna jokes that he survived that back when people actually trusted them in the House, but she also acknowledges that the joke has some truth to it. Ashley tells Jenna and Scott that it appears Cole, Hayden, Luke, Mark, and Summer are running things in the House right now, but they need to do whatever they can to change the hierarchy in the House.

Jenna thinks that trying to talk her way out of her current situation would be useless, as Hayden’s allies are very much in complete control of the vote. Since her only reliable method of saving herself is to win the POV, she instead decides that she deserves a break from strategizing and takes a nap in the backyard, soaking up the sun’s rays. In the DR, she says that, despite being a target, she feels the most at ease this week because she knows that she can’t do anything to better her position in the House at the present moment. That sense of helplessness almost gives her a brief sense of peace, where she can finally, after six and a half weeks, take her mind off the game.

Mark notices how relaxed Jenna is and reports back to Cole and Hayden, finding her behavior somewhat suspicious. Hayden is quick to shrug off Mark’s concerns, assuming that she’s just resting for the POV competition. Mark doesn’t believe this explanation, though, telling Cole and Hayden that he’s certain she must feel safe for some reason and that they should investigate why. Even Cole, who is a self-proclaimed paranoid freak, tells Mark that he’s overreacting and that Jenna enjoying her day and practicing self-care does not mean that she has some evil plot to ruin their plans. In fact, Cole thinks that Jenna is relaxing because she believes she can’t do anything to save herself - after all, she is clearly towards the bottom of the House. In the DR, Cole tells the viewers that he sometimes feels like the only sane member of his alliance, maybe besides Summer.

It doesn’t take long for Luke and Summer to realize just how big of a void is left by Veronica being evicted, especially as they sit in the HOH room bored out of their minds. Summer tells Luke that, while she adores him, nothing is the same now that Veronica is gone. Luke agrees, almost feeling like a part of him left when Veronica went home. In the DR, Luke tells the audience that he hates to be mushy, but he feels… different now that Veronica is gone. Specifically, he feels a lot less motivated to win the game. He hopes that it’s just a phase that passes, especially since he only knew Veronica for a few weeks, but those few weeks were some of the best in his entire life. He and Summer decide to sit with Jenna, where they start a friendly conversation. Jenna guesses that Luke must be upset that Veronica is gone, which he admits that he is. However, he still has people that he really likes in the House - like the two people he’s sitting with right now. When Luke says this, Jenna gets a bit intrigued since she hasn’t had very many conversations with Luke so far in the game.

The conversation gradually shifts to strategy, but Jenna tells Luke and Summer that she doesn’t want to talk about strategy. Summer asks her if she’s really sure, promising that she has information that she might consider valuable. This piques Jenna’s interest; eventually, she caves and lets them both talk game with her. Luke lets Jenna know that Hayden wants the story around the House to be that Scott is going home, but his real target is actually her. She simply nods, already suspicious of Hayden and not really finding the news all that surprising. Luke goes on, saying that he and Summer have disagreed with a lot of Hayden’s decisions so far in the game, to the point of worrying that his loyalties might lie with people beyond the two of them - specifically, Cole and Mark. Again, Jenna had her suspicions about such an alliance, but is glad all the same to have it pretty much confirmed. She thanks Luke and Summer for the information and hopes that they will vote against Scott so that she can stay in the game to fight against the guys’ alliance. In the DR, Luke says that he’s tired of sitting by and hoping that things go his way in the game, so he’s finally taking matters into his own hands to put himself in a better position.

At the Veto Player Pick, Hayden draws Cole’s chip, Jenna draws Houseguest Choice and picks Ashley, and Scott draws Mark’s chip. Scott is relieved that Ashley was drawn to compete, hoping that she can win POV and turn the entire week around. In the eighth Power of Veto competition, however, the nominees’ hopes are dashed when Cole ends up winning the coveted power. He is ecstatic to have another POV win, since the win also helps his alliance execute their plan in sending Ashley or Jenna home.

Cole, Hayden, and Mark meet in one of the bedrooms to celebrate having full power for the week. Hayden in particular believes that it’s now a foregone conclusion that either Ashley or Jenna will be evicted according to the plan. He asks Cole to use the POV to take Scott off the block so he can nominate Ashley as the replacement just in case something goes wrong. Cole is really hesitant, though, telling Hayden that the move would put a lot of blood on his hands and would piss Luke and Summer off, since they both seem to want Scott to go. Hayden argues that’s exactly why they should save Scott - it would force Luke and Summer to vote one of the girls off. Cole still thinks it’s a bad idea, preferring to get Eliza to join them in voting against Jenna instead. After all, she’s probably pissed off at Ashley and, by proxy, Jenna for their move to get rid of Olivia during the Double Eviction.

Cole talks with Luke and Summer, telling them that Hayden wants him to use the Veto on Scott, but he disagrees with their plan. Summer is in agreement with Cole, telling him that saving Scott to put Ashley up in his place would be an idiotic move since it’s not like she and Luke are set on voting Scott out. In fact, Summer tells the DR that she finds the entire incident proof that she can’t really trust Hayden all that much anymore. Luke backs Summer up, urging Cole not to use the POV and keep the nominees the same, since there isn’t much point in changing around the nominees out of paranoia. Cole thanks them for the insight, feeling even more strongly about not using the Veto. When he leaves the room, Luke immediately tells Summer that their suspicions about Hayden are 100% right and that he really wants to keep Jenna in the game even more. Summer absolutely agrees with him and pledges to vote Scott out at the eviction - that is, if Cole makes the right decision and doesn’t use the Veto.

At the Veto Ceremony, Cole tells the group that this decision was surprisingly difficult for him. He then announces after a brief pause that he has decided not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee, leaving Jenna and Scott as the final nominees for the week. Mark and Hayden both look very disappointed in the decision, while Ashley, Jenna, Luke, and Summer can’t help but smile. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 22 Part 1 (Eviction)

In the DR, Scott tells the audience that he’s been in this situation and survived before - and he’s dead-set on doing it again. He quickly approaches Hayden after the Veto Ceremony, sensing his disappointment with how the ceremony went. He asks him what the plan is for the eviction - specifically, who he wants to see go home out of the two nominees. Hayden promises Scott that Jenna is his true target, and that he actually wanted Cole to use the POV on him so Ashley could be nominated as the replacement. Still, he’s confident that Scott will stay, since he already has confirmed votes from Cole and Mark and is 95% sure that Luke and Summer will vote Jenna out as well. This is a big relief for Scott, who realizes that he might not have to campaign to stay at all. Still, Hayden suggests that he talks with Eliza, who could potentially become the swing vote in the rare chance that Luke and Summer both flip.

Scott approaches Eliza, apologizing to her for not speaking to her much over the week. She tells him that it’s fine - most of the houseguests seem to be ignoring her anyways. Feeling bad, Scott again apologizes for how she’s been treated by the House as a whole. He asks her what she’s thinking for the vote; she says that she would vote Ashley out in a heartbeat if she was on the block, but her bitchy sidekick Jenna is the next best thing. She promises to vote for Jenna at the eviction, which makes Scott feel even more confident about eviction night. However, in the DR, Eliza tells the viewers that she hasn’t actually made up her mind - she just wants Scott to feel secure so that he doesn’t try too aggressively to get her to change her mind. She wants to play independently for the rest of the time in the House without the houseguests trying to influence her too strongly.

Meanwhile, Ashley and Jenna talk with Luke and Summer, who both say that they’re strongly leaning on voting Scott out of the game. They fill Ashley in on the fact that Hayden tried to get Cole to use the Veto on Scott so he could nominate her as the replacement, which would force Luke and Summer to vote one of the two girls out. For some reason, he doesn’t trust his own allies to vote the way he wants. Ashley is shocked but glad to see infighting within the biggest alliance in the House, as well as a real chance for Jenna to stay in the game. However, she knows that they need Eliza to vote in their favor to secure a majority, which could be very difficult to accomplish. Summer says that she’ll talk with Eliza, knowing that there might be tension between her and the Ashley/Jenna duo.

Summer approaches Eliza and asks her who she’s voting for to go home. Eliza decides to be honest, telling her that she’s completely undecided as both of the nominees are dead to her. Summer argues for Scott to go, telling her that Hayden really wants Jenna gone. Eliza nods her head, but asks her why that matters. Summer explains that Hayden is really close with Cole and Mark and probably plans on going to the end with them; if she weakens them by voting Scott out before he can join their group, she has a much better chance of getting to the end. She continues to fight for Scott to go home, bringing up the fact that Ashley and Jenna both want Cole, Hayden, and Mark gone ASAP and will likely leave Eliza in over anybody else in the House besides each other. Although Eliza is skeptical of this after Ashley betrayed her just a few days ago, she does see the merit in Summer’s argument. In the DR, she expresses her opinion that Cole, Hayden, and Mark have coasted through the game without worry for seven whole weeks, and all three of them really need a reality check. However, she has a gut feeling that Jenna should go as a form of revenge against Ashley. Conflicted, she tells Summer that she still hasn’t made up her mind, but thanks her for reaching out.

Ashley, Jenna, and Scott all say their goodbyes to each other, since the girls aren’t sure what is going to happen. Scott is pretty confident that he’ll stay, but decides not to gloat about this and still acts like it’s possible he could be the one going home. Ashley tells Jenna and Scott that both of them have been amazing allies and that it sucks that one of them will be leaving. However, she and whoever stays will fight like Hell to win the game and make the final two, and they won’t let anybody get in their way.

At the eviction, Jenna and Scott both hold hands as they nervously await the results. Jenna is clearly more nervous than Scott is, but Scott isn’t 100% confident that he’ll stay. The votes are finally tallied: by a vote of 4-2… Scott is evicted from the Big Brother House. Somewhat shocked that the vote was flipped, Scott hugs Ashley and Jenna goodbye before he grabs his things and leaves the House as the third member of the Big Brother jury. As he leaves, Cole, Hayden, and Mark are clearly shocked and peeved at the vote’s results, with Hayden in particular wondering why Luke and Summer voted differently than they were supposed to.

Votes for Scott: Ashley, Eliza, Luke, & Summer

Votes for Jenna: Cole & Mark

Week 8

Episode 22 Part 2 (HOH)

After Scott’s eviction, the final eight houseguests (except for Hayden, the outgoing HOH) compete to become the next Head of Household. Tensions are particularly high due to the blindside at the vote, with everybody giving it their all to get some power for their respective group. When the competition is over, Ashley is crowned the new HOH. She and Jenna are very enthusiastic about winning power, especially in combination with the dodged bullet at eviction. Ashley is asked to name four Have-Nots; she chooses Eliza, Jenna, Hayden, and Summer.

Episode 23 (Nominations)

Ashley and Jenna celebrate the results of the HOH competition, enthusiastic to have the chance to exact revenge after losing Scott just a few minutes beforehand. In the DR, Jenna tells the viewers that Ashley’s win finally gives both of them the chance to strike against the very likely alliance between Cole, Hayden, and Mark, who are very close to having a full stranglehold over the game. However, she gets a bit worried when Ashley tells her how excited she is to send Luke or Summer packing. Jenna nods along in agreement, not wanting to rain on her friend’s parade just yet, but she does tell the audience that she needs to convince Ashley to change her mind on who she’s targeting.

Jenna decides to talk with Luke and Summer in one of the bedrooms, warning them that Ashley seems to want one of them out this week. She promises them that she’ll do her best to talk her into targeting one of the guys instead, but can’t guarantee anything. Luke tells her that Ashley should be easily convinced as long as Jenna can prove that Cole, Hayden, and Mark are bigger threats. Jenna nods along with him, but she can tell that Ashley at least feels some personal connection to the three men or she wouldn’t care at all who goes. Summer suggests to Luke that they also talk with Ashley about the issue, hoping that, if enough people approach her with the idea of targeting one of the other men, she will be convinced to go along with it. In the DR, Luke says that it’s not his time to go yet, and he’ll do anything in his power - even throwing some of his other allies under the bus - to stay until the end.

Meanwhile, Hayden tells Cole and Mark that he’s really worried about the week. He just got rid of one of Ashley’s closest allies, and now she has the power to seek revenge by sending him home. Cole is similarly worried, but Mark shocks the group by taking a more optimistic and confident approach. He tells them both that he thinks Ashley wants Luke or Summer out more since they appear to have power over the group - even though they don’t. He assures Hayden that even if Ashley wanted revenge, she probably sees Cole as a bigger threat; this obviously doesn’t ease Cole’s worries at all, though. Both Cole and Hayden are adamant that Ashley isn’t dumb enough to pass all three of them over, worrying that their “secret” alliance is common knowledge in the House. Mark disagrees, believing truthfully that Ashley in particular is clueless to the alliance’s existence. Mark tells the viewers that he wouldn’t at all be surprised if Ashley knew about the alliance, but he’s still confident: after all, when Eliza and Olivia went behind her back to form an alliance with Reese, she made a deal with him to watch each other’s backs. Hopefully, she honors this deal by keeping his allies safe as well.

Jenna decides to talk with Ashley about her concerns, asking her who she’s thinking of nominating. Ashley tells her that she wants to nominate Luke and Summer, as it makes the most sense because they seem to be running things on their side of the House. Jenna tells her that she’s wrong and Luke and Summer really aren’t as in control as she thinks. She then tells her that she’s seen Cole, Hayden, and Mark talking with each other on multiple occasions, to the point where she thinks the three of them are all in an alliance together. Jenna then tells her that even Luke and Summer suspect the alliance, which prompts Ashley to believe that the whole thing is fake. She tells Jenna that Luke and Summer are clearly making up lies and throwing their allies under the bus to survive another week. Jenna rolls her eyes, urging Ashley to reconsider. She says that Luke and Summer are really nice and honest people, but Ashley refuses to listen. She says she is set on going after Luke and Summer, which annoys Jenna to no end. Jenna tells her that she’s tanking her own game before storming out of the room. When this happens, Ashley begins to reconsider. If Jenna didn’t actually care that much, she wouldn’t get mad at her for thinking differently. She starts believing that Jenna might be right about the guys’ alliance, feeling like she should think harder about her nominations.

Jenna tells Luke and Summer the bad news that Ashley wasn’t at all receptive to the idea of shifting the target. Summer is genuinely surprised by this, wondering why Ashley is so set on targeting the two of them. Luke also finds it strange, sharing Jenna’s worries that Ashley has some sort of connection to the guys’ alliance that they don’t know about. All Jenna can do now, though, is urge the two of them to fight their hardest in the POV competition later on in the week. If one of them wins it, Ashley will most likely nominate one of the guys as the replacement, giving them a chance to strike at the alliance regardless. Summer finds this rather grim, but tells the viewers that she will never give up until she’s walking out the front door.

Just before nominations, Mark approaches Ashley in the HOH room to confirm the bond they had formed a few weeks prior. He starts by asking her where her head is at for the nominations; Ashley admits that she has no idea what she’s going to do anymore. She asks him if he has an alliance with Cole and Hayden; assuming that she must know already and is asking to confirm his trustworthiness, Mark tells her the truth - yes, they have an alliance. However, he tells her that he’s been trying constantly over the last few weeks to keep her safe, pointing out that she avoided the block when Hayden was HOH almost entirely due to him. He argues that Luke and Summer want her out more than anybody, while he and his allies aren’t going to target her any time soon. This intrigues Ashley; she does see the guys’ alliance as a serious threat, but also thinks it would be foolish to target them if they’re protecting her. Again, she has no idea what she’s going to do when the nominations roll around other than go with her gut.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Ashley explains how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, which will reveal her first nominee. She will then turn the second key to reveal the second nominee. With that, Ashley turns her first key, revealing Luke as one of her nominees. Luke looks deeply disappointed when he sits down in his nomination chair. Ashley turns the second key, which reveals Summer as the second nominee. Cole is very relieved to be safe from the block, whispering an apology to Mark for doubting his confidence. When Summer sits down, Ashley explains that this decision was very, very hard for her and she was very conflicted about who to put up, but explains that she sees Luke and Summer as the biggest threats to her individual game. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 24 (POV)

Jenna immediately approaches Ashley after the Nomination Ceremony, hoping to get some answers from her or at least to make up after their fight earlier in the week. Ashley sincerely apologizes to Jenna for not listening to what she was saying and for acting so rude about it, promising that she has nothing against her. Jenna forgives Ashley almost immediately, but she still asks her why she wanted to nominate Luke and Summer with the guys’ alliance clearly being a thing. Ashley admits to her that she feels safer with their alliance around than with Luke and Summer, who she feels would target her if they won an HOH. Although Jenna knows that Ashley is right in that regard, she still warns her that the guys’ alliance isn’t looking out for her as much as she might think. This ominous warning scares Ashley a little, who hopes that she isn’t placing her trust in the wrong hands.

Meanwhile, Cole, Hayden, and Mark discuss the miraculous nomination ceremony; specifically, the fact that all three of them managed to avoid the block against all odds. Hayden in particular is shocked, admitting to his allies that he was sure Ashley would seek revenge against him for getting rid of Scott. Mark tells the group that he talked with Ashley before the nominations, and she explained that she felt more targeted by Luke and Summer and saw them as less trustworthy than the guys’ alliance. While Hayden nods along with this like it’s perfectly normal, Cole finds it odd that Mark’s retelling seems to indicate that Ashley grouped the three of them together. Even more odd is the fact that Ashley would see Luke and Summer as less trustworthy when they advocated against putting her on the block last week. Cole believes that Mark may have leaked their alliance to Ashley to gain trust from her; he doesn’t say anything, though, because clearly it kept them all safe from nominations this week.

Luke decides to talk with Ashley to try and convince her to shift the target onto one of the other guys. Ashley reiterates to him what she told Jenna - she thinks that the other guys aren’t coming after her just yet, while he and Summer appear want her out before anybody else. Luke shakes his head at this, telling Ashley that clearly one of the guys must have duped her, since they are in no way protecting her at all. They’re only using her to further their own games. When Ashley asks Luke to prove this, he tells her that Hayden tried to get Cole to use the Veto on Scott so that she could be the replacement nominee. Aghast, Ashley suddenly realizes that her trust in Mark might be misplaced. Luke urges Ashley to rethink her position in the House and her closeness to the trio of guys before leaving the HOH room. Ashley tells the viewers that Jenna’s talk, along with Luke’s surprising revelation, has convinced her that maybe one of the other guys should go home - preferably Hayden, the biggest snake in the entire House. She won’t say anything unless the POV is used, where she will blindside the guys alliance by nominating Hayden.

Mark also talks with Ashley, thanking her for keeping her allies safe. Ashley is clearly peeved at him for his ally’s backstabbing, but doesn’t say anything to his face. Sensing the negative energy from Ashley, Mark asks her what’s wrong; Ashley says “nothing”, but the way she says it confirms that she’s pissed at him. He again asks what’s wrong and why she’s mad at him; after enough asking, Ashley finally snaps, telling him that he and his allies are backstabbing pieces of sh*t who are using her to advance their own games. Mark is flabbergasted, promising Ashley that he has not said a bad word about her all game. She asks him about Hayden trying to get her nominated; Mark admits that’s true, but also states that he successfully stopped Cole from using the POV despite what Hayden may have wanted. Ashley tells him that she’s seriously considering backdooring Hayden for his betrayal and that he better be ready for the storm that’s coming his way. In the DR, Mark tells the viewers that Hayden has managed to alienate their alliance from everyone else in the House, honestly wondering if he and Cole should just cut him loose because he’s becoming such a liability.

When Summer sees a flustered Mark leaving Ashley’s HOH room, she congratulates Luke on whatever he said that managed to turn Ashley against the boys. Luke shrugs, saying that he only told the truth. Summer and Luke head outside to relax, both to stay rested for the POV competition and to take their minds off of strategy for once. Luke admits to Summer that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself is she wasn’t in the House with him, especially after losing Veronica. Summer blushes, always loving a compliment from Luke. He comments on how funny it was that she tried to find him for 20 years after reading that message in the bottle, and, now that she finally has, the two of them are best friends. Summer says she always knew she and Lucas would be friends if they ever met, almost tearing up at how sentimental it is to be talking to her bottle penpal in person. She tells the viewers that talking to Luke opens up a childlike whimsy that she hadn’t felt in many, many years - which makes him the best friend anybody could ask for.

At the Veto Player Pick, Ashley draws Jenna’s chip, Luke draws Mark’s chip, and Summer draws Cole’s chip. A few hours later, the six competitors fight hard in the ninth Power of Veto competition of the season, with Jenna, Luke, and Summer wanting to change the nominations while Cole and Mark want to keep them the same. In the end, Cole manages to win the Power of Veto for his third time in Big Brother 5 and the second time in a row. He tells the viewers that the win was crucial to keep his core alliance safe from the block.

Luke is crestfallen with the results of the POV competition, certain that he and Summer will be split up by the end of the week. Taking a more optimistic approach, Summer points out that, of all of the people in the guys’ alliance who could have won, Cole is the best for their chances of getting the POV used. She explains that she has a strong bond with Cole, enough so that there’s a real chance of him using the Veto to save her - which would allow Ashley to nominate Hayden or Mark as the replacement. Luke isn’t so sure that the plan would work, but admits that he’s willing to try anything at this point to stay in the game. Summer tells the audience that her plan is a definite longshot, but the last thing she wants to do is lie down and give up.

As Cole is celebrating his victory with Hayden and Mark, Summer knocks on the door and asks to speak with him in private. This worries the ever-paranoid Hayden, who’s afraid that Cole will screw him over and use the Veto on Summer. Mark pulls him forcefully out of the room to let the two talk, clearly annoyed with his constant paranoia. When they’re finally alone, Cole and Summer discuss the plan for the POV. Cole promises Summer that she is a very valuable ally and good friend of his on a personal level, but he’s worried that using the Veto would only serve to get blood on his hands and backstab an ally. He promises either way that he won’t vote for her to go home and hopes that the two of them can stay aligned despite how he uses the Veto. Summer promises that she isn’t angry with him, but she also expects him to rally votes in her favor. In the DR, she complains that Cole’s decision will probably result in Luke going home. However, at this point, all she can do is ensure her own survival.

At the Veto Ceremony, Cole emphasizes just how hard of a decision it was regarding the Veto. This makes Hayden extremely nervous. These nerves are not warranted, however, because Cole decides not to use the Power of Veto on either nominee just as he promised. This leaves Luke and Summer, close friends since the beginning, as the final nominees for the week.

Episode 25 (Eviction)

Summer and Luke hug very tightly, with Luke in particular despondent at being split up from another close ally and friend of his. He tells the viewers that Big Brother is far more emotionally taxing than anyone who hasn’t played could ever understand. Ashley also gives the two nominees hugs, apologizing to both of them over the results of the week. She makes sure the audience knows that she was seriously considering putting Hayden on the block, but Cole’s POV win thwarted her plans completely. Now, two potential allies of hers are on the block and it’s all her fault. She wishes she had listened to Jenna when she had the chance instead of acting like a total bitch to her.

Cole again apologizes to Summer for not saving her; she is very forgiving, telling him that it’s okay and she isn’t mad at him. However, she also tells him that he’s going to have to do all of the campaigning against Luke, since she can’t bring herself to go against her closest ally like that. Cole chuckles, jokingly calling Summer lazy. The two talk for hours in the bedroom, completely losing track of time due to each other’s company. In the DR, Cole confesses that Summer is absolutely one of his favorite people in the House and that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if she went home this week. Summer says that, no matter what damaging game decisions Cole makes, she can’t bring herself to get mad at him for it because he’s such a good guy.

Talking with his allies, Hayden and Mark, Cole argues that Luke should be the one to go home. He tells them that he’s noticed Luke in particular talking a lot with Ashley and Jenna, worrying that he might be trying to start an uprising against the three of them. When Hayden asks why Luke would be going against them, Cole gets frustrated, telling him that it’s ridiculously obvious that everybody in the House, except maybe Eliza, knows about their alliance. Hayden doesn’t respond, mostly shocked that Cole, who is always calm, got angry at him. When Cole asks them both if they are down with voting Luke, both of them agree. Smiling, Cole leaves the room to campaign more. As soon as he leaves, Mark tells Hayden that he isn’t so sure if he wants to vote Luke out. It seems to him that Cole and Summer have some sort of bond, which is the real reason why he wants to keep her in the game. He suggests voting Summer out instead to get rid of any potential conflicts of interest with Cole. Hayden doesn’t at all respond to the idea, more focused on Cole snapping at him. In the DR, Hayden says that he was absolutely crushed with Cole’s outburst, feeling like he doesn’t have anybody to lean on for emotional support anymore.

Eliza, who has been relaxing around the House and not focusing a single minute on strategy at all, is surprised to be approached by Cole about the vote. He asks her what she’s thinking; she says she doesn’t really care, since Luke and Summer are a package deal and neither of them is really a bigger threat than another. Cole proposes that she votes Luke out, promising that he will work with her down the line if she does so. Intrigued with the idea of having somebody to talk strategy with again, she agrees to the deal, making a promise to vote Luke out at the eviction. In the DR, Eliza states that her goal now is to coast to the end undetected while the bigger players take each other out, but having the strongest guy in the House as a potential ally certainly doesn’t hurt. Cole, meanwhile, admits that he doesn’t really care about Eliza, mostly wanting her vote to keep Summer just in case Mark or Hayden don’t follow through.

Ashley and Jenna also talk about the vote, wondering which nominee would be more useful to them in taking out the guys’ alliance. Jenna believes that Summer generally performs better in competitions and is smarter, which will help them beat Cole in competitions. Ashley agrees with these points, but isn’t so sure if keeping her is the right choice. She points out that Summer definitely has bonds with some of the guys in the guys’ alliance - more so than Luke does, at least. She worries that Summer wouldn’t actually get rid of the guys if she won an HOH even though she swears she will; at best, she will get rid of Mark or Hayden, who are not the threats within the alliance. Jenna sees the validity in Ashley’s points, wondering if keeping Summer really is the right choice or not. She tells the viewers that she hasn’t been as uncertain for a vote as she is now, but she has to trust her gut instinct and make the best move for her game.

With all the campaigning and strategy going on in the background, Luke and Summer are glad to enjoy each other’s company instead of scurrying around to try and secure votes. Luke is certain that he’ll go home, telling Summer that her vivacious personality will certainly earn her the votes to stay. Meanwhile, all he’s known for is being Veronica’s boyfriend. This joke makes Summer laugh, but she’s also sad to think about one of the two of them going home. After enjoying a beautiful day outside, Summer tells Luke that she’s all she could have asked for in a bottle-message-writer, still in disbelief over the coincidence. In the DR, Luke states that he plans on being friends with Summer long after the show is over, hoping that the two of them will never be separate as they were when Summer read his fateful message 20 years prior.

Just before the eviction, Mark decides to talk with Cole about his strategy session a few days before. He tells Cole that Hayden has seemed almost shell-shocked after he snapped at him when campaigning for Luke to go home, urging him to talk to Hayden to try and mend their friendship. Cole is shocked and feels very guilty over how his remarks made Hayden feel, never intending to hurt him so badly. Cole approaches Hayden in one of the bedrooms where he is sulking. Hayden refuses to make eye contact with Cole as he apologizes again and again for yelling at him, mocking his intelligence, and generally being an asshole a few days ago. After Cole’s apology, Hayden shushes Cole, telling him that it’s fine. He appreciates Cole approaching him and apologizing, admitting that the paranoia and backstabbing in the game is starting to get to him. Cole and Hayden sit in the bedroom side-by-side, making small-talk and trying to distract from the game. Hayden tells the viewers that he isn’t sure if he 100% forgives Cole for yelling at him, but understands that he needs to pretend to if he wants their alliance to stay together.

At the eviction, Luke and Summer hold hands, bracing themselves for the results. Cole is also nervous over the possibility that his campaigns failed. Eventually, the votes are tallied and revealed. By a vote of 5-0… Luke is evicted from the Big Brother House. Luke hugs Summer, along with the rest of the houseguests, goodbye before he grabs his things and leaves the House as the fourth member of the jury.

Week 9 (Round 1)

Episode 26 (Re-Entry/HOH/Nominations)

After Luke’s eviction, Matt calls the remaining houseguests into the living room. When they are all gathered, he drops a bomb on them: one of the four previously evicted jurors will return to the game via the HOH competition. Additionally, if that re-entering houseguest beats all seven of them as well, he or she will become the new HOH. While most of the houseguests are nervous about who might return, Summer is excited. She tells the viewers that there’s a 50% chance that one of her allies comes back, so she’s optimistic to see who will be making their way back into the House.

The four jurors - Veronica, Olivia, Scott, and Luke - join the remaining houseguests (except for Ashley, the outgoing HOH) in competing in the combined re-entry and HOH competition. Halfway through the endurance-based competition, only Luke and Veronica remain for the jurors, meaning that one member of the showmance will return to the game. In the end, Veronica manages to last longer than Luke and earns her place back into the House. She doesn’t win the competition overall, though; Cole is the overall winner, making him the next Head of Household. He chooses Ashley, Veronica, and Mark as the Have-Nots.

Veronica, not at all clued in to the goings on of the House yet, congratulates Cole on his HOH win alongside Hayden. Cole congratulates her in turn for earning her way back into the game, promising immediately not to nominate her this week. Summer is also in the room to congratulate her friends, but is not-so-secretly unhappy that Cole’s alliance will likely stay intact for another week. In fact, she can’t wait until Cole and Hayden leave the room so she can fill Veronica in on just how dangerous Cole’s two allies are. Hayden tells the audience that he feels on top of the world right now - with Cole as the HOH, his guys’ alliance is guaranteed to stay safe for another week. Eventually, Cole and Hayden both leave the room to talk with Mark about their plans for nominations. This gives Summer the chance to update Veronica on everything that she’s missed - most importantly, that she discovered Cole, Hayden, and Mark have a secret guys’ alliance that is running the game. Veronica gasps, asking Summer if Cole and Hayden really have betrayed them. Summer simply nods, telling her that they need to get rid of Mark when they get the chance to weaken the other two and prevent them from controlling the entire game. For now, though, they need to pretend to be close to the guys so that they avoid the block. Veronica tells the viewers that she missed a lot by being gone for two weeks, stating that it will definitely be hard for her to get back into the swing of things after taking two weeks off from strategy.

Jenna is distraught over Cole winning HOH, certain that she and Ashley will be Cole’s nominees. She talks with Ashley about what they can do to both survive the week; already, they both know that if they are the two nominees as they expect, one of them will have to win POV and hope for a miracle from there. Ashley again apologizes to Jenna for her mess-up the previous week, knowing that it was a bad move on her part to not get rid of one of the people in the guys’ alliance. Jenna begs her to stop apologizing; all they can do now is bounce back and prove that they can still win the game. She also offers Ashley a glimmer of hope - through their efforts to get two of the guys on the block the previous week, Jenna formed a bond with Summer, who she believes she can convince to vote off somebody other than the two of them. They’ll have to see who the replacement nominee is or even if one of them can win the POV, but Jenna is confident that there’s a legitimate chance both of them will survive - they just need to play up the guys’ alliance and how dangerous they are.

Cole, Hayden, and Mark debate who should go on the block. Eliza is ruled out right away since she isn’t a threat in any way, but it’s harder for them to agree on which two of the remaining four should actually go on the block. Cole and Hayden both want to see Ashley and Jenna nominated, half because of their bond with Summer and Veronica and half because they believe Ashley and Jenna are bigger threats overall. Mark disagrees, stating that Summer and Veronica are both very likable people and Veronica in particular is very strong in competitions. Mark tells the viewers that he doesn’t want to see Ashley on the block because of his bond with her, but worries that he won’t be able to change Cole’s mind. Cole tells Mark that he promised Veronica he wouldn’t nominate her, so he can’t really justify putting her up next to Summer.

Summer and Veronica talk in the backyard, glad to finally be reunited. Summer tells Veronica about the message in the bottle story involving Luke, which lights Veronica’s face up. She tells Summer that the coincidence is truly remarkable, especially since it happened 20 years ago. She then tells Summer that she really wishes Luke was still around, since she hadn’t seen him in over two weeks. Summer comments on how unfortunate it is that, right when Luke would have finally met up with Veronica again in the jury house, she won her way back into the main House. In the DR, Veronica tells the viewers that Summer is great and all, but it was Luke that really empowered her to win competitions and power through the game. Without him, it might be harder for her to have the motivation to win.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Cole explains how the ceremony will work. He will turn the first key, which will reveal his first nominee. He will then turn the second key to reveal his second nominee. Cole begins the ceremony, turning his first key and revealing Ashley as the first nominee. Ashley doesn’t react at all, sitting emotionless in the nomination chair. Unsurprisingly, Jenna is revealed as the second nominee when Cole turns the second key; she too shows no emotion towards being nominated. Cole explains that the two women are great people and competitors, which makes them big threats in his eyes. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 27 (POV)

After the nominations, Cole hugs both Ashley and Jenna, apologizing to them for the nominations. Neither of them harbors ill will towards him, but they both passionately feel that they need to win the POV and screw up Cole’s plans, or they’re both screwed. In the DR, Jenna tells the viewers that things are really starting to get down to the wire, so she can’t play nice anymore - she needs to start winning competitions and looking out for only herself. Ashley comments that things are looking very grim for her and Jenna right now, hoping that the Veto can shake things up but not expecting anything drastic to happen.

Later on in the day, Eliza approaches Cole and thanks him for honoring his deal with her and not putting her on the block. Cole is confused, not even remembering forming a deal with Eliza at all, but goes along with it, nodding and saying “yup” in response. She asks him if he wants Ashley or Jenna out more; Cole says he isn’t quite sure, since his main goal is to split the two women up. Eliza suggests that he goes after Ashley, who has proven to be untrustworthy and can win competitions very easily. Perplexed, Cole tells the viewers how strange it is that Eliza is preaching about trust when she supposedly betrayed all of her allies. Again, though, he goes along with her ramblings, mostly to keep her on his side. Eliza comments in the DR that she has successfully planted the seeds to finally get revenge on Ashley, and she is ecstatic to see those seeds grow into fruition.

Ignoring the weird encounter, Cole talks with Summer and Veronica about how hard it is to be the HOH this late into the game, since he feels some sort of personal connection with all of the other houseguests - that is, except for Eliza. Veronica giggles at this, telling Cole and Summer that she isn’t the biggest fan of Eliza either. In fact, the only reason that she’s still in the game is because she’s such a goat. Summer is sure to note these comments in the back of her mind, disliking the idea of a “goat” lasting in the game and taking up a spot in the final two. She tells the viewers that she wants Eliza gone as soon as possible so that she has more wiggle room to get to the finals. Cole tells Veronica just how excited he is that she’s back in the game, congratulating her again on her re-entry. She thanks him for the thought, but also wishes that Luke could be in the House with them. Summer interjects, urging Veronica to power through and win for Luke instead of letting herself get sad over him - it’s what he’d want her to do.

Hayden and Mark talk about the House dynamics - specifically, how boring it has gotten in the House lately. When the House was full, things were a bit more interesting because there were so many different personalities competing for attention. Now, though, there are only half as many people left as there were in the beginning, and a lot of the loud personalities - like Paul, Scott, and Irene - are long gone. Mark suggests that they come up with something to do to make things a bit more exciting, but neither of them can come up with any good ideas. That is, until Hayden later discusses with Mark how weird it is that they’ve lived with these people for over eight weeks, but they don’t really know very much about them. All they know about Ashley is that she’s studying at Harvard University. As for Cole, everyone knows about his girlfriend, Jillian, but not much else about his life is known. Hayden knows very well about this - mostly because he wishes Cole were gay (and single). Summer and Luke were “penpals” of some sort 20 years ago in Southern California, while Veronica is an aspiring actress and model. Jenna is married at the young age of 24 to her husband, Jermaine. They don’t know a single thing about Eliza’s life at all. Mark suddenly gets the idea to host a game like Never Have I Ever, where they can hopefully learn a bit more about the other houseguests.

Most of the houseguests are on board with the idea, but Cole is hesitant. He says that he doesn’t know if he wants to incriminate himself on national television, which makes a lot of the other houseguests laugh - wondering what Cole could have possibly done that is too awful to share with all of America. In actuality, though, Cole dislikes the idea for a different reason - he isn’t comfortable revealing to the houseguests that he is transgender, worrying that the topic might come up in the game. Not wanting to alienate himself from the House, though, Cole eventually agrees with enough pushing from Summer to participate.

In the game, not too much exciting happens beyond the usual reveals about embarrassing actions that the houseguests have committed. Most of these involve drunken nights with friends - nothing too out of the ordinary. However, when a question about hooking up with the same sex is asked, Cole and Hayden are the only ones who lift their fingers. Hayden looks at Cole in shock, secretly hoping that he’s bisexual or that his girlfriend is the lie that he’s living. Instead, Cole very reluctantly explains that he was assigned female at birth. He then explains that he has hooked up with men before transitioning and fully accepting that he was attracted to women. This shocks the rest of the houseguests, but all of them are very supportive towards him. Hayden realizes how selfish he was being by hoping that Cole was bi or not attracted to his girlfriend, apologizing to him and America in the DR for his ignorance and expressing his support for Cole. Jenna asks him why he waited so long to tell everybody; he explains that he has dealt with rejection in the past, so he didn’t want to be unfairly judged for his gender identity. On the flip side, he also didn’t want people to feel like they had to align with him as some sort of “charity case”, since he’s at peace with his life now and doesn’t need any special treatment. Jenna has a lot of respect for this, telling the viewers that she’s glad Cole felt comfortable enough to tell everybody that he’s trans, also stating that she totally respects his decisions regarding coming out.

At the Veto Player Pick, Cole fortunately draws Hayden’s chip, Ashley draws Summer’s chip, and Jenna draws Houseguest Choice. Hoping that they can still rise up against the guys’ alliance, she chooses Veronica to compete. Later on in the day, the six chosen houseguests compete in the tenth POV competition of the season; not wanting to go home, Jenna powers through and wins the competition, forcing Cole to decide on a replacement nominee.

Although Ashley and Jenna do celebrate the latter’s POV victory, they also realize that they have no hope in both of them surviving unless Cole nominates Eliza as the replacement nominee. Jenna assures Ashley that this happening is pretty likely, since Cole obviously wouldn’t nominate any of the guys and he has a pretty strong relationship with Summer and Veronica. Ashley, however, is worried that Cole will realize that her eviction is guaranteed if he puts one of the two ladies up. Jenna states honestly that he probably already knows this, hoping instead that he’ll decide against betraying any of his friends in the House. Ashley states in the DR that she does not at all feel safe. While she is happy for Jenna for winning POV, she also realizes that her win could likely be her death sentence.

Summer and Veronica also want to keep Ashley around (along with wanting to avoid the block), so they try to convince Cole that Eliza should be the replacement nominee. They don’t really offer a strategic reason other than the fact that nobody really wants her out, instead arguing that she is the only one who he doesn’t really have a good bond with, making her the choice that would get the least blood on his hands. Cole 100% agrees with his friends, but he does state that Ashley would probably go home no matter who he put up. Veronica smiles deviously, saying “totally!” in response. In the DR, she prays that Cole makes the emotional move of nominating Eliza so that Summer and Veronica can team up with Ashley and Jenna to take down the guys. However, she knows that Cole is smart and might make a move to ensure that Ashley goes home 100%.

Cole discusses with Mark and Hayden who should go up, clearly preferring that Eliza is the renomination. Hayden supports the idea of nominating Eliza, since everyone sees her as a goat and thus would keep her in. Mark disagrees with the idea. He states that, yes, Ashley would 99% go home if Eliza were nominated, but why risk that 1%? By nominating, say, Veronica, Summer would be forced to vote Ashley out - joining himself and Hayden in securing the majority against her. He emphasizes that there is zero risk in putting one of the two of them up. Cole tells Mark that he’s absolutely right, but he doesn’t want to get blood on his hands or burn bridges by making such a move. Besides, after Ashley got rid of Luke, there is no reason for them to keep her in. Mark still fights for Summer or Veronica to go up, though, despite the fact that Cole isn’t budging. In the DR, Mark does tell the viewers that he has ulterior motives - he would much rather see Summer or Veronica go home than Ashley, who he has a deal with. However, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to convince Cole to change his mind.

At the Veto Ceremony, Jenna uses the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block. Cole tells the houseguests that he hates having to nominate even more people, apologizing before announcing that Eliza is his replacement nominee. Eliza doesn’t seem to care too much about being nominated, sitting down confidently alongside a defeated Ashley. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 28 Part 1 (Eviction #1)

Although she is ecstatic with the results of the Veto Ceremony, Ashley puts on the best impression of defeat and sadness she can muster. Cole feels legitimately bad for her, giving her a hug and again promising that his decision was strictly strategic. Ashley acts very accepting of his reasoning - largely to make him feel like she’s given up when she’s done anything but. In the DR, Ashley tells the viewers that Cole and his allies will have a very rude awakening coming when she survives the week and Eliza is the one who goes home.

Ashley, Jenna, Summer, and Veronica meet together in the Have-Not room to confirm the plan to flip the vote on its head and eliminate Eliza. Summer and Veronica both tell the girls they are on board, finding it necessary that they keep people in the game who are going to fight back against the guys’ alliance. However, Veronica tells the viewers that she has some doubts about the plan. She mostly agreed to the idea because Summer was so strongly in favor of getting rid of one of the guys, but she doesn’t personally see the benefit in doing so. Cole and Hayden seem solidly loyal to her and Summer as of now - more so than they are loyal to Mark despite their “secret” guys’ alliance. Plus, getting rid of Cole in particular (as Ashley and Jenna so often suggest) is a really bad idea, since he will win competitions to keep her, Hayden, and Summer safe. While Veronica does admit to the audience that Eliza isn’t all that useful to her game, Jenna and especially Ashley are legitimate threats that need to be taken out.

Veronica brings up her concerns to Summer. She explains to her that she knows she feels strongly about breaking up the guys’ alliance, but she personally doesn’t see the benefit. Veronica especially emphasizes that they need to keep Cole in for a few rounds until he can get rid of Ashley, Jenna, Eliza, and Mark. Summer tells her that he won’t get rid of Mark because of his guys’ alliance, but Veronica isn’t buying this reasoning. She is confident that Cole is still strongly loyal to the two girls, which Summer knows is true deep down. Finally, Eliza poses no threat to anybody’s game, so sparing a mega-threat like Ashley to get rid of a total non-factor like her would be a waste of a vote. Summer assures Veronica that her points are all valid and that she values her opinions, she also states that they need to weaken the guys’ alliance somewhat, which Ashley and Jenna can help them accomplish. Then, once the guys are weaker, they can get rid of those two. Veronica continues to try to convince Summer to flip the vote, telling the audience that she hopes she can help her “see the light”.

In the HOH room, Hayden congratulates Cole on another successful week. Paranoid, Mark reminds him that the week hasn’t finished yet and anything could happen from now until the eviction. Hayden is confused by this, asking Mark how the vote could possibly go awry. Mark points out that, if Summer and Veronica vote with Jenna, they could eliminate Eliza instead of Ashley very easily. Hayden assures him that no such event could ever happen and that the two girls would never be dumb enough to vote out someone so unthreatening. Cole pipes up, telling both men that he sides with Mark on the issue. He argues that there’s a very real chance that Summer and Veronica flip if they feel the three of them are too close. Hayden is shocked that Cole is taking Mark’s side instead of his, but he instead shrugs, saying that they’ll find out at the eviction night. Mark smirks to himself, telling the viewers that he’s glad somebody in his alliance finally sided with him instead of the constant teaming up against him that usually happens. Still, Cole really should have nominated Summer or Veronica, since there would be no risk of a flip occurring to save Ashley.

Summer decides to approach Cole in his HOH room later on in the week, wanting to tell him the truth about what may happen at the eviction. From Summer’s solemn tone, Cole can tell what she’s about to tell him. Sure enough, Summer lets Cole know that there’s a high possibility of Eliza leaving the House instead of Ashley. She explains that she dislikes how everyone is talking about dragging Eliza to the end, not wanting a floater to stay in the game and take a spot in the final two. Of course, she leaves out the part about taking a strike against Cole’s alliance. Cole is thankful to her for telling him the truth, but he urges her to vote Ashley out as planned. He argues that she’s simply too big of a competition threat and she may have convinced her that she’s on her side, but she’s lying. Cole’s last comment does make Summer reconsider a little bit, since she knows very well that Ashley is an intelligent and likely manipulative person. Still, she feels confident about her decision to vote Eliza out - much more confident than Veronica, who is strongly considering going behind Summer’s back and voting out Ashley before she and Jenna can wreak any more havoc.

Just before the eviction, Eliza heads into the backyard to engage in conversation with Ashley and Jenna. Eliza says various things about how she wishes the three of them could have stuck together once the jury phase started and how upset she is that she and Ashley will be split up. Ashley can tell how fake Eliza is being, simply ignoring her. Eliza then states that the House is going to be so different once Ashley leaves, a clear attempt at angering Ashley. When she fails to get a response, Eliza simply asks Ashley to send her best regards from the Jury House before heading back inside. As soon as she leaves, Jenna states that she might have a stroke if she has to live with that bitch for another week. This makes Ashley laugh; she tells the viewers that she’s glad to have a friend like Jenna stay by her side during such a stressful time in the game.

At the eviction, Eliza doesn’t try to hide her confidence, rubbing it in Ashley’s face throughout the voting process. By a vote of 3-2… Eliza is evicted from the Big Brother House. Eliza and Hayden are both flabbergasted by the result, while Mark simply shakes his head. Ashley cracks a smile at Eliza, asking her to say hi to Olivia for her. Unable to process how she managed to get the votes to leave, Eliza grabs her things and confusedly walks out of the House as the fourth member of the jury.

Votes for Eliza: Jenna, Summer, & Veronica

Votes for Ashley: Hayden & Mark

Week 9 (Round 2)

Episode 28 Part 2 (Eviction #2)

After Eliza’s eviction, Matt calls the remaining houseguests into the living room. There, he announces to them all that another houseguest will be leaving the game that night. Somewhat expecting a second Double Eviction sooner or later, none of the houseguests are all that shocked. Instead, they mentally prepare themselves to fight for power, heading outside for the HOH competition.

In the eleventh Head of Household competition of the season, the seven remaining houseguests (except for Cole, the outgoing HOH) compete. Tensions are especially high after Eliza’s blindside and the clear line drawn in the sand as a result. Hayden and Mark try in vain to prevent a girl from winning the competition, as Ashley is crowned the winner of HOH in a decisive victory. She rushes into Jenna’s arms and the two jump around in celebration as the guys are forced to watch on in horror.

The houseguests head back inside the House for the Nomination Ceremony. Without any hesitation, Ashley announces that she is nominating Cole and Hayden for eviction. Worried, the two men take their seats in the nomination chairs, praying that the POV will somehow improve the situation. Veronica is clearly unhappy with the nominations as well, whispering to Summer that she was hoping Mark would be the first guy to go out of the alliance. Summer nods, indicating that she agrees with Veronica’s plan.

At the Veto Player Pick, Ashley draws HG Choice and quickly picks Jenna to compete. Cole draws Veronica’s chip and Hayden draws Summer’s chip, meaning that Mark is the only one who is not participating in the POV competition. Cole and Hayden’s defeat only increases because of Mark sitting out, since him winning POV would be their only hope of keeping all of the guys in for another week. The six chosen competitors compete their hardest to win the eleventh Power of Veto competition of the season. In the end, Hayden pulls through and manages to snag the power, meaning that he personally will survive the round. However, he worries that Cole’s game is as good as done as a result of the win.

The houseguests head back inside for the Veto Ceremony, where Hayden makes the obvious decision of using the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block. Ashley pours cement over the firm line in the sand by choosing Mark as the replacement nominee. This leaves Cole and Mark as the final nominees. As Ashley nominates Mark, she urges the House to make the right decision and eliminate the guy who has been running the game and winning all of the competitions, clearly referring to Cole. He simply states “it won’t be that easy, honey” before the ceremony is adjourned.

Chaos erupts in the House as different houseguests try to get their desired outcome. Ashley and Jenna both grab Summer and Veronica, panickedly telling them that Cole needs to go because he’s such a fierce competition threat. From there, it will be easy to pick off the rest of the guys. Once Ashley and Jenna walk away, Veronica furiously shakes her head at Summer, indicating that she strongly disagrees with voting Cole out. She tells her that Cole is on their side, and, with Mark gone, he will have no conflicts of interest in the House anymore.

Cole approaches Summer just before the eviction, promising her that he is 100% on her side until the very end. He even states that, with Mark gone, there will be no excuse for him to not be fully committed to their alliance. When Summer looks unsure, he pleas to Summer to make the right decision. He asks her which person has been loyal to her since the beginning - him, or Ashley? He then walks away, letting the rhetorical question hang in Summer’s mind.

When the votes are tallied, Mark sits nervously in his chair as Cole crosses his arms, practically staring Ashley and Jenna down. Summer looks very conflicted and nervous to the point of tears, and looks very unsure of herself after emerging from the Diary Room. By a vote of 3-1… Mark is evicted from the Big Brother House. Mark’s jaw drops to the floor, unable to fathom how he was evicted over the guy who’s won 5 competitions. As he gets up and hugs everybody goodbye, Ashley apologizes profusely to him and promises him that this wasn’t what she wanted or expected to happen. As Mark does so, Cole smiles deviously in Ashley and Jenna’s direction, signaling to them that he will target them back - but he won’t miss. Mark, still a bit shocked, leaves the House quickly as the fifth member of the jury.

Votes for Mark: Hayden, Summer, & Veronica

Votes for Cole: Jenna

Week 10

Episode 29 (HOH/Nominations)

After Mark’s surprising eviction, Cole, Hayden, Jenna, Summer, and Veronica compete in the twelfth Head of Household competition of the season. With things really starting to get down to the wire, all of the competitors give it their all in the competition. In the end, though, the boys are crushed when Summer wins, making her the new HOH. She chooses Cole, Hayden, and Jenna as the week’s Have-Nots.

Ecstatic to have power in her hands at long last, Summer celebrates her victory with Veronica, congratulating her on final five. Veronica says the same back to her, telling her that they really needed to win power this week, especially since the game as a whole is at a crossroads. Summer agrees, stating that there are three pairs in the game - the two of them, Cole and Hayden, and Ashley and Jenna. She and Veronica need to settle on one of those pairs to target. Immediately, Veronica argues that Ashley and Jenna ought to be the nominees, since they’re both very smart and strong girls who are in a sort of underdog position in the House dynamics. While Summer definitely agrees that Ashley and Jenna are threats, she feels like she would be breaking a promise by targeting them after they went after the guys. Veronica rolls her eyes, reminding Summer about how Ashley nominated her against Luke just a few weeks prior. Clearly, she and Jenna have no true loyalty to them and merely used them to advance themselves further in the game. On the flipside, Cole has been loyal to the two of them since the very beginning; sure, he had a side alliance with Mark, but his loyalty has clearly always been with the greater alliance. Summer tells the viewers that she absolutely does not want to get rid of Cole, but he’s quickly becoming a big threat. She’s very conflicted about whether to follow Veronica’s advice and target Ashley/Jenna or to target Cole and Hayden.

Meanwhile, Ashley tells Jenna that she’s pretty worried about the week, since Summer and Veronica clearly went behind their backs and kept Cole in the game, voting Mark out despite telling them to do the opposite. Jenna agrees that she trusts Summer and Veronica a lot less now after Mark’s unintentional eviction, but she promises Ashley that she’ll try to convince Summer that Cole is a much bigger threat than either of them are. Ashley has a different approach - clearly, the girls have proven themselves unworthy of trust, so they could team up with the guys to get back at them. Jenna promises her that they can do so later, but they need to secure their own safety now before planning any sort of rebellion. Nothing they can do will change the fact that Summer is the Head of Household, so they need to strategize based on that.

Jenna makes her pitch to Summer. She’s quick to emphasize just how much she values her friendship that they made back when Luke was on the chopping block, hoping that such a friendship can continue further into the game. Summer promises Jenna that she isn’t her target, but doesn’t state that she won’t nominate her. Sensing this, Jenna begins to argue in favor of Cole being the target for the week. She points out that Cole has won far more competitions than anybody else in the game, which makes him a huge threat in comparison to the other houseguests. Plus, everybody loves him, meaning he’ll easily sweep a jury vote. Summer nods along, not disagreeing with Jenna’s points. Once Jenna is done arguing for her case, Summer thanks her for giving her a lot to consider, reiterating her promise not to target her and even apologizing for flipping during the previous vote. Jenna asks for an explanation; Summer states that she didn’t feel like she could trust Mark at all, while Cole at least doesn’t seem to be after her right now. This information worries Jenna, who realizes that Summer may think it’s not smart for her to target Cole, who she’s been friends with in the game for many weeks. Choosing to stay optimistic, Jenna holds on to Summer’s promise of not targeting her no matter what, although she has a sinking suspicion that she’ll end up on the block.

Cole and Hayden talk about the crazy Double Eviction, especially with Eliza randomly going home and Mark’s tragic eviction. Cole admits that he’s almost surprised he survived the vote against Mark, but he’s mostly glad to still be alive and kicking. They come to the decision that Summer and Veronica must have flipped on them and voted Eliza out, but they have no idea why they’d do such a thing. Hayden suggests to Cole that he talks with Summer about what happened - if they don’t talk with her, who knows what she’ll do at the nomination ceremony? Nodding, Cole heads out of the room to talk with the HOH about the plan. Once he leaves, Hayden sighs, clearly feeling a bit homesick. He tells the viewers that, even though he received letters from home when he won HOH and he’s beyond grateful for that, he still really misses his parents and friends back home. Counting down the days until the finale, he describes in detail about how he’ll walk out of the House triumphantly after winning the cash prize (hopefully), where his family will be waiting for him to jump into their arms. Wiping away a sole tear, he sits silently on his bed, hoping that his homesickness will fade.

In the HOH room, Cole and Summer discuss what happened last week, as well as what the plan is for this week. First, Summer justifies her vote against Eliza, telling Cole that she heard many, many stories about people wanting to drag Eliza to the end so they’d win against her in the jury vote. She disliked hearing these plans because it meant that there would be less room for her in the finale, so she and Veronica teamed up and knocked her out when they got the chance. Cole, having heard her explanation of the events before, thanks her for the clarification. He also asks her what the hell happened during the Double Eviction. Summer decides to be honest - Ashley and Jenna knew about his alliance with Hayden and Mark and wanted to take him out specifically to break the guys’ alliance up. However, Summer and Veronica both saw him as a loyal ally, instead voting Mark out. Cole thanks Summer from the bottom of his heart for following through and saving him, admitting that he may have taken their friendship for granted before that moment. He then makes a pitch for Ashley and Jenna to be the targets, arguing that they aren’t really all that loyal to her or Veronica and they’re both giant threats. Plus, they both have each other to rely on, making them a dangerous duo. In the DR, Summer states that she feels more confidently that Ashley and Jenna should go, since she doesn’t at all want to lose her friendship with Cole. However, she’s worried about how the duo might react.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Summer explains how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, which will reveal the first nominee. She’ll then turn the second key, revealing the second nominee. With everything explained, Summer turns her first key, revealing Ashley’s face on the wall. Almost expecting it, Ashley shakes her head in disappointment as she sits down, which makes Summer feel somewhat guilty. Summer then turns her second key, revealing Jenna as the other nominee. Hoping that Summer is making true on her promise, Jenna calmly sits down beside her best friend. Summer explains that the two women she nominated are both huge threats and make a truly dynamic duo that should be split up. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 30 (POV)

Veronica pulls Summer aside right after the nomination ceremony, telling her that she made the right choice by nominating Ashley and Jenna no matter what they might try to tell her. Summer nods, thanking Veronica for being there for her. In the DR, Summer tells the viewers that the nominations were not an easy decision for her, but she knows at the end of the day that she made the right decision. Cole and Hayden both join the two ladies, with the four of them finally feeling like their alliance from the earlier weeks in the game has been reunited. Both pairs quickly apologize to each other for scheming against each other over the past few weeks, renewing their promise to go all the way to the final four together. In the DR, Hayden tells the audience just how happy he is to see all of his friends back together and friendly towards each other again.

Meanwhile, there is a much more somber attitude between Ashley and Jenna, who realize that they need to win POV or they’re screwed. Jenna tells Ashley just how disappointed she is in Summer’s repeated betrayals, especially since she thought they had something good with her beforehand. Ashley reminds Jenna that it’s hard to fully trust anybody in a game like Big Brother; the only true guarantee of safety is competition. Jenna agrees wholeheartedly, suggesting that they channel their anger towards Summer into winning the veto competition and ruining her plans for the week. In the DR, Jenna tells the viewers that, although she’s angry with Summer for betraying her, she still wants to talk with her to hopefully get an explanation and to make sure that she stays over Ashley. Ashley, meanwhile, claims in the DR that she knew all along about how untrustworthy Summer and Veronica were, calling Jenna a “fool” for ever trusting them in the first place. The only thing that they ever did for her was voting Eliza out, but they immediately went back on that by voting out Mark just minutes later. Ever since Scott was evicted, Ashley has seen the game as her and Jenna versus the world, never for a minute trusting any of the other houseguests and wishing that Jenna felt the same.

Jenna asks to talk with Summer alone in the HOH room. She obliges, not wanting to lose their friendship in case Jenna ends up in a position of power. Jenna cuts to the chase, asking Summer why she nominated her despite their deal to get rid of the guys until the final four. Summer apologizes, but states that she simply cannot trust Ashley at all. She felt like Ashley would be after her before Hayden or Cole, so she needed to strike first. Jenna knows deep down that Summer is right, but she still expresses her disappointment in being nominated alongside Ashley when Hayden would have been a much better pawn. Summer apologizes again, promising Jenna that she will secure the votes to keep her in no matter what happens with the POV. She then states that she doesn’t expect forgiveness for going back on the deal, but hopes that Jenna understands the strategy behind the decision and that it was solely a move against Ashley, not against her. In the DR, Jenna says that she might need to rethink her game plan, since it’s clear that Summer wants to take Cole and Hayden to the final four instead of her and Ashley. She laments Summer’s betrayal, especially since she really likes her on a personal level, but promises the viewers that she will never give up until she’s walking out the door - either as a juror or the winner of the game.

Since only six houseguests remain, there is no ceremony to choose the competitors for the Power of Veto competition - Cole, Hayden, and Veronica will automatically join Summer, the HOH, and Ashley and Jenna, the nominees, in competing in the twelfth Power of Veto competition of the season. Ashley and Jenna both give it their 110% effort, mostly out of anger and self-preservation after being nominated. Despite their efforts, though, Veronica manages to beat them and wins the POV. While Ashley assumes that this means she’s going home, Jenna hopes that she can convince Summer to get Veronica to use the Veto on her so Hayden or even Cole could go up as the replacement.

Jenna makes her move, asking again to talk with the HOH, along with Veronica, in her room. The three women all gather, where Jenna congratulates Veronica on her well-deserved win. Although Veronica is glad to hear the compliment, she is well aware that Jenna is trying to butter her up. Once they’ve all settled down after the competition, Jenna begins to make her pitch to be saved from the block. She says that she understands why she’s on the block alongside Ashley since they’re very close, but she warns Summer and Veronica that Cole and Hayden have two of the three votes in the eviction, which means they can control the results of the vote. She then claims that Ashley talks a lot more with Cole and Hayden than she does, which means that the two men could very well save Ashley and vote Jenna out instead. This point intrigues Summer in particular, who has noticed that Ashley is fairly close with the guys - at least, more than Jenna is. To combat this issue, Jenna suggests that Veronica uses the POV and her and Summer nominates Hayden as the replacement - that way, they won’t have to worry about Ashley accidentally staying. Jenna feels satisfied with her pitch, heading downstairs with the hope that Veronica comes to her senses and uses the POV on her. When she leaves the room, Veronica tells Summer that she dislikes the plan and wants the nominations to stay the same. Summer understands why she’s hesitant, but tells her that Jenna brings up a very good point. Sure, both Cole and Hayden realize that Ashley is the bigger threat, but they also may have realized that Ashley is more likely to be on their side than Jenna is. Veronica tells the viewers that the decision is really tough, since she could put unnecessary blood on her hands no matter what she chooses to do.

As the Veto Ceremony approaches, Cole and Hayden both discuss what they want to do at the eviction assuming the nominations stay the same. Quickly, both men come to the agreement that Ashley is much more likely to target Summer or Veronica than Jenna would be, which means that it’s safer for them to keep Ashley in the game. However, Cole does state that going behind Summer and Veronica’s backs and voting Jenna out could be seen as betrayal and get them both in hot water. Hayden shrugs, stating that the final six is way too late to try and preserve a four-person alliance. If the girl who stays wins HOH, the alliance will have to turn on itself anyways. They might as well keep somebody who will favor their side over somebody who won’t. Cole says that it’s a very hard decision to make and they should wait until the Veto Ceremony is over to start planning out who to evict. Cole tells the viewers that loyalty is one of his biggest values, so betraying Summer as Hayden is suggesting really bothers him. However, he also understands that he needs to make strategic decisions instead of emotional decisions.

At the Veto Ceremony, Veronica stands up and gives a lengthy speech on how the decision was surprisingly difficult for her, a statement that worries Cole and Hayden. However, their worries are put to rest when Veronica announces her decision to not use the Power of Veto, leaving Ashley and Jenna on the block as the final nominees for the week. Ashley and Jenna both nod, but Jenna is noticeably disappointed with the outcome of the ceremony. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 31 Part 1 (Eviction)

Once the ceremony ends, Ashley and Jenna immediately rush off to one of the bedrooms to officially say their goodbyes to each other. Ashley thanks Jenna from the bottom of her heart for being there for her always, through the thick and through the thin, as well as for giving her strategic and personal advice - even if she didn’t always follow through with it. Jenna thanks Ashley in turn, glad to have her as such a close friend from the very beginning of the game. She apologizes in advance for the aggressive campaigning she’s about to do in order to stay, which makes Ashley laugh. In the DR, Ashley states that it’s hard to even fathom that, after ten weeks attached at the hip, she and Jenna will finally be separated. Choosing not to focus on that, Ashley tells Jenna that they should spend the last few days of the game having as much fun as possible.

Before Jenna can have any fun, though, she needs to secure her spot in the final five. Since Veronica will almost definitely follow through with Summer’s plan of voting Ashley out, she only needs to convince one of the two men to vote on her side. Therefore, she approaches Cole to try to persuade him into voting Ashley out instead. She starts her pitch by asking him what he’s thinking about the vote; he admits that he isn’t all that sure about who to vote out. Jenna can tell he’s leaning on maybe voting her out, so she kicks her campaigning into overdrive. She promises that, should she stay in the game over Ashley, she will have no more loyalties and thus will need to find new allies. She goes on, stating that Summer and Veronica proved themselves to be untrustworthy in her eyes because of the week’s nominations, meaning that she doesn’t want to work with them anymore. Jenna tells Cole that she can tell he’s a very trustworthy guy and is perhaps the most loyal in the entire game. This makes her want to work with him, since she knows he won’t backstab her. Cole is thrilled by the idea of keeping Jenna and working with her down the line, since he won’t be betraying Summer by keeping Ashley and he’ll gain himself somebody who’s desperate enough to attach herself to him for the remainder of the game. Even more than before, Cole is set on voting Ashley out regardless of what Hayden thinks. Cole tells Jenna this, which makes her giddy with joy. She thanks him for hearing her out before joining Ashley in the backyard to enjoy the rest of the week.

Cole decides to tell Hayden the good news about Jenna wanting to work with them if she stays. Hayden immediately states that she’s lying and is only telling Cole exactly what he wants to hear. Shocked at Hayden’s insistence that Jenna is untrustworthy, Cole reminds him that Ashley is a huge threat, far more than Jenna is. He says that there is literally no reason to keep Ashley in the game at all. Hayden disagrees, feeling that Ashley is more likely to win HOH and target Summer and Veronica, which is good for their game. Cole retorts, arguing that they need somebody in the game who they can get rid of eventually down the line - Ashley will not be easy to get rid of if they don’t vote her out this week. When Hayden continues to refuse to vote Ashley out, Cole states with finality that he’s voting her out no matter what Hayden thinks. In the DR, Hayden complains about how stubborn Cole is being and how desperately he wants to keep Summer and Veronica happy when they should be planning for the future and setting themselves up for the final two. Cole, meanwhile, says that he’s starting to get tired of Hayden’s antics and wishes he would listen to somebody else’s suggestions for once in his life.

Summer and Veronica, despite Jenna’s warnings, are confident that Ashley will go home as planned. They have no idea that Hayden is strongly considering voting Jenna out instead… that is, until Cole impulsively tells both of them that Hayden is refusing to vote Ashley out even though all logic points towards getting rid of her. Summer rolls her eyes, telling the group that she’s getting really tired of Hayden’s constant betrayals and his insistence to make stupid decisions. All three of them agree that, if Jenna wins HOH next week, they need to throw Hayden under the bus - and hard. Cole tells the viewers that he’s worried Jenna might try to get rid of one of the other women instead after they nominated her, but he feels confident that he can convince her that Hayden needs to go first. After all, she’s clearly adopting the “as long as it’s not me” strategy at this point in the game. Summer, meanwhile, praises Cole for bringing Hayden’s potential betrayal to her attention. She states that this only strengthens the mutual trust between the two and makes her feel safer for when the alliance inevitably has to turn on itself. Veronica feels similarly, claiming in the DR that Cole’s annoyed attitude towards Hayden is music to her ears, since it means Hayden will likely be the first victim of the alliance eating itself instead of her or Summer.

The night before the eviction, Ashley and Jenna, who have spent most of the week outside talking to each other and relaxing, are joined by the rest of the houseguests. Together, the final six indulge in alcohol and play various party games. Jenna is glad that what may be her final night in the game is a fun, light-hearted one instead of strategically heavy. At one point, a very drunk Summer begins telling a story, but passes out halfway through. The other houseguests laugh, not really understanding Summer’s slurred, drunken speech anyways. Veronica tells the viewers that the night was the most fun she’s had in the entire game. She expresses just how thankful she is to be a part of this wonderful game, and looks forward to its exciting conclusion.

Hours before the eviction, Cole ponders on his impulsive decision to tell Summer and Veronica about his beef with Hayden. Feeling regretful for throwing his best ally under the bus, he talks to Hayden about the vote. He says that he’s set on voting Ashley out, as is Veronica. That means that, no matter what Hayden does, Ashley is going home. Cole warns him that he needs to join him in voting Ashley or Summer and Veronica will get angry with him and target him to go home as soon as possible. Hayden, alarmed that Summer and Veronica were talking about getting rid of him, merely nods and promises to vote with his ally. He apologizes for acting like such an asshole about the vote, not even knowing why he wanted to keep Ashley so bad. Cole forgives him and the two restate their promise to take each other to the final two. In the DR, Hayden says that moments like Cole’s warning confirm to him that he’s the most trustworthy guy in the House and that he’s the best ally anyone could ask for - clearly unaware that Cole campaigned against him the previous day. Cole, meanwhile, calls himself an awful ally in the DR, unable to believe that he threw his best friend and ally under the bus over something so petty and insignificant.

At the eviction, Ashley and Jenna both hold hands, dreading the moment when they’ll finally be separated for good. As the other houseguests vote, Jenna hopes that Cole and Hayden follow through and vote Ashley out as planned. By a vote of 3-0, Ashley is evicted from the Big Brother House. Ashley stands up, hugs Jenna very, very tightly, waves goodbye to the others, and leaves the House as the sixth member of the jury.

Votes for Ashley: Cole, Hayden, & Veronica

Votes for Jenna: --

Week 11 (Round 1)

Episode 31 Part 2 (HOH)

After Ashley’s eviction, Cole, Hayden, Jenna, and Veronica compete in the thirteenth Head of Household competition of the season. Cole, Hayden, and Veronica give it their all to both delay the implosion of their alliance and to keep themselves and their closest ally safe. Jenna, meanwhile, gives it her all because she is well aware of how close the other houseguests are to each other and feels like she needs to win out of self-preservation. In the end, Jenna’s efforts pay off and she is crowned the new HOH, leaving the rest of the House worried.

Episode 32 (Nominations/POV)

Jenna’s HOH win is the worst case scenario for the other houseguests, who realize that their alliance will lose a member by the end of the week. The four of them all gather together, where they all come to the agreement that they’re going to have to campaign against each other. Hayden states that all is fair in the game of Big Brother, so he’s fine if the rest of them want to throw him under the bus because he’ll be doing the exact same thing. This remark almost gets a chuckle out of Summer, who has already thrown Hayden under the bus multiple times. Despite this, though, the four allies all make a promise to do their best to get rid of Jenna next week. In the DR, Veronica confesses that Jenna winning HOH was the absolute worst thing that could have happened, but she hopes that she targets the guys instead of her and Summer.

After discussing the sad state of affairs, the alliance begins to break off into smaller groups to figure out who should go. Cole, Summer, and Veronica are quick to gather and discuss convincing Jenna that Hayden should go. All three of them agree - or, at least claim to agree - that Hayden is the most expendable member of the alliance. The rest of them can win competitions more often than Hayden and are also much more loyal and trustworthy to each other. Cole is obviously bothered by the smack talk against his best friend in the House, even if he does agree that Hayden is fairly expendable from a strategic viewpoint. He simply loves the kid too much to want to get rid of him like Summer and Veronica do. Plus, if Hayden really is seen as a snake by so many houseguests, he would be easy to beat in the jury vote - giving Cole an additional incentive to keeping Hayden around. Finally, Hayden will always be loyal to Cole, so it would be smart for him to keep the guy around for a while longer. Summer tells the viewers that she hopes Cole is still on board with getting rid of Hayden - if he isn’t, it could put a huge wrench in her plans.

Cole decides to warn Hayden that Summer and Veronica both think he should go and will likely try to convince Jenna of the same. Hayden is a bit shocked by this, not thinking he was all that threatening - at least, not enough for his alliance to turn on him first. Cole decides to be truthful, telling him that he was singled out as the most expendable person in the alliance by the two girls, as well as the least trustworthy. Hayden is legitimately shocked by this, especially since Summer and Veronica were the ones that just threw him under the bus at the earliest possible opportunity. Cole agrees that it’s messed up, but promises that he is on his side and even says he’ll convince Jenna to side with him as well. Hayden is really thankful towards Cole for always looking out for him, even when nobody else in the House does. He calls him one of the best friends he’s ever had and claims that he can’t express in words just how much he values his friendship. In the DR, Cole is choked up, overwhelmed with guilt over throwing Hayden under the bus after hearing all of this praise. He feels like he doesn’t deserve Hayden’s friendship.

Jenna and Cole talk about the week in her HOH room, hoping they can figure out what to do with the nominations. Jenna obviously states that she won’t nominate him no matter what, so she has to choose between Hayden, Summer, and Veronica as the nominees. Cole comes up with a suggestion that he sees as genius: to hide Jenna’s affiliation with him, she can nominate Hayden and one of the two girls, stating that she picked one person from each pair at random. She can claim that the POV will decide which side wins out, even though, in the end, she’ll be able to vote out whoever she pleases. Jenna loves the idea, but is unsure if she should target Summer or Veronica. She knows she wants to keep Hayden around because he isn’t much of a threat, though. Cole pushes for Veronica to be the target; this worries Jenna, who fears that Cole could have some sort of connection with Summer that he’s trying to keep intact. She tells the viewers that she wants Cole’s allegiance all to herself, so she might just get rid of Summer or even Hayden if they’re too close to him.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Jenna explains how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, which will reveal the first nominee. Then, she’ll turn the second key to reveal the second nominee. With that, Jenna turns the first key, which reveals Hayden as the first nominee. Deafening silence erupts from the other houseguests at this reveal, with Summer and Veronica feeling relatively safe because of it. Hayden sits down emotionlessly, trying his best to hide his anger towards Summer and Veronica. Jenna then turns the second key, which reveals Summer as the second nominee. Cole, Summer, and Veronica are all confused by this, but Summer confidently sits beside Hayden in the second nomination chair. Jenna explains that she nominated Hayden and Summer because she couldn’t pick one side to favor over the other, so she nominated one person from each side. She states that the POV will likely decide which pair wins out, which leaves the other houseguests (minus Cole) feeling uneasy. With that, the nomination ceremony is adjourned.

All four members of the majority alliance take Jenna’s words to heart, focusing hardcore on the upcoming POV competition. Jenna finds it hilarious that none of them are really interacting with each other because they’re so focused on winning. The only talking they do relates to the Veto competition as well - specifically, both pairs realize that the nominated member of the pair should throw the competition to allow the non-nominated member to win and take them off, which would force the non-nominated member of the other pair on the block. Summer isn’t very fond of the idea, though, since she would rather guarantee her own safety than have to rely on Veronica or anybody else for that matter. However, she does realize that, if Veronica won, Hayden’s eviction would be a foregone conclusion.

There is no ceremony to choose the players for the thirteenth POV competition of the season, since only five houseguests remain. Cole and Veronica automatically join Jenna, the HOH, and Hayden and Summer, the nominees, in competing for the Power of Veto. Initially, both Hayden and Summer follow the plan to throw the competition and allow their allies to win instead. However, Summer - despite throwing the competition - finds herself ahead of Veronica. When she realizes that Cole is gaining a sizeable lead and Veronica has no shot at winning, she begins to give it her all. Eventually, Summer manages to steal the lead from Cole and wins the Golden POV.

Immediately after the competition, Summer and Jenna have a strategic conversation for the first time in several weeks. Jenna, knowing that Summer will use the Power of Veto on herself, asks what she thinks about who the replacement nominee should be. Summer admits that she likes both Cole and Veronica very, very much, so it would be hard for her to pick one of them to nominate. However, she thinks Cole should go on the block solely for strategic reasons, as it would make it easier for them all to get rid of Hayden, who is overall very untrustworthy. Jenna laughs about Summer’s pitch in the DR, stating that it only makes her want to nominate Veronica and get rid of her even more than she did before. Summer, meanwhile, admits that she mainly cares that she’s safe, stating that she feels confident Cole will vote Hayden out if he isn’t the replacement and that, even if Veronica goes, she still has Cole on her side. The two women hang out for the rest of the day, enjoying that they’re back on somewhat good terms again.

At the Veto Ceremony, Summer makes the obvious decision of saving herself from the block. Jenna stands up, telling the group that her nominations were because she wasn’t fully convinced by either side of the House to target the other side. She still feels the same way, announcing that Veronica is her replacement nominee. Nodding, Veronica sits down next to Hayden, hoping that Cole and Summer both follow through with their promise to vote Hayden out. With that, the Veto Ceremony is adjourned.

Episode 33 Part 1 (Eviction #1)

Once the Veto ceremony is over, Summer grabs Cole and Veronica and heads into one of the bedrooms. There, she reminds both of them (specifically Cole) about the deal they made at the start of the week to get rid of Hayden so that the three of them can all take Jenna down together. Cole and Veronica nod along, but it is clear to Summer that Cole appears unsure about the idea. When the trio finishes discussing the plan for the next week - whichever one of them wins HOH will nominate Jenna alongside whoever finishes last in the HOH competition - Summer asks to speak with Cole in private. Veronica leaves the room; as soon as she does, Summer asks Cole if he’s planning on voting Veronica out at the eviction. Cole admits that he’s not sure what he wants to do. While Hayden is definitely not very strong in competitions, he’d feel awful for betraying such a close friend like that. In response, Summer simply states that she’s also a close friend of his before leaving a guilty Cole behind. In the DR, Cole laments that, no matter what he does, somebody is going to be mad at him for it. He doesn’t want to lose his friendship with Hayden or with Summer, so the upcoming decision is stressing him out more than anything else in the game has so far.

Hayden, meanwhile, wants to make sure that Jenna breaks the inevitable tie vote in his favor at the eviction. He asks to talk with her alone in her HOH room. When the two are alone, Hayden comes out guns blazing, stating that Veronica is a massive threat in the competitions who has proven herself by battling her way back into the game after being evicted. Jenna asks him to slow down, wondering why he’s campaigning to her about the vote. Hayden looks stunned for a second before laying it out: Cole is voting for Veronica and Summer is voting for him, which will result in a tie. Therefore, she has the tiebreaking vote. Jenna asks him to go on; Hayden states that everyone clearly thinks he’s untrustworthy and terrible at competitions, which means he’s not a threat in the slightest. Jenna tells him that she’ll consider saving him - that is, if a tie even happens. This thought worries Hayden, who realizes that he should probably secure Cole’s vote before campaigning further.

Cole and Hayden have a strategic conversation in one of the bedrooms. This conversation, though, mostly consists of Hayden begging and pleading to stay. Mostly to calm him down, Cole reassures Hayden that he will vote Veronica out when the eviction rolls around. He says that he simply can’t get rid of such a close friend like him and that betraying people’s trust just isn’t like him. However, he also states that Summer will be mad at him for keeping Hayden in the game over Veronica, feeling that, no matter what happens, he’s going to lose a close friendship in the House. Hayden comforts Cole, apologizing for campaigning so desperately and empathizing with his difficult decision. Hayden tells Cole that, again, he really appreciates the undying friendship he shows him, not fully sure what he’d even do without him in the House. He promises to take him to the final two, and Cole quickly returns the promise - and not just because he thinks he has a good shot at beating him.

The subject of their conversation gradually shifts towards their personal lives. The two men both relate to each other due to identifying as LGBT+ - Hayden as gay and Cole as trans. They both share times of difficulty and times of triumph within their lives as a result of their identities, with Cole in particular having faced some nasty bigotry earlier on in his life. He confesses to Hayden that some of his relatives still refer to him as his birth name and with female pronouns no matter how many times he and his immediate family corrects them. Hayden has also faced prejudice in his life, both due to his homosexuality and his race. Both of them are beyond glad for how supportive everyone in the House is of them, as well as the fact that they have each other to rely on and vent to when things get tough. Cole tells the viewers that Hayden is one of the best people he’s ever met and that he knows they’ll have a lasting friendship outside of the House.

At the eviction, Hayden and Veronica both look very nervous for the result of the vote - Hayden in particular. As Cole and Summer cast their votes, the rest of the houseguests wonder who Cole will vote for and what the implications of that vote may be. The votes are tallied: by a vote of 1-1, there is a tie between Hayden and Veronica. Summer looks at Cole with deep disappointment, while Jenna stands up to make her decision. She explains that the following decision was a difficult one for her before announcing her vote to evict Veronica from the House. Almost expecting it, Veronica hugs the houseguests goodbye, sheds a few tears due to her dream of winning Big Brother falling short, and leaves the House for the second time as the seventh member of the jury.

Votes for Veronica: Cole & Jenna

Votes for Hayden: Summer

Week 11 (Round 2)

Episode 33 Part 2 (HOH)

After Veronica’s eviction, Cole, Hayden, and Summer compete in the fourteenth Head of Household competition of the season. Since none of them feel truly safe anymore, the three of them give it their all in the competition. It’s a close battle between Cole and Summer, but Summer again manages to just barely get the edge on him and becomes the new HOH, also earning herself a spot in the final three.

Episode 34 (Nominations/POV/Eviction #2)

Summer’s head is spinning after seeing Veronica go home. She immediately pulls Cole aside and asks him to explain himself and why he voted Veronica out despite his agreement to vote Hayden. He apologizes to her, but defends his decision, saying that he didn’t have as much of a relationship with Veronica as he did with Hayden. Summer doesn’t look Cole in the eyes as she tells him that he completely and mercilessly stabbed her in the back by voting Veronica out, hoping that he’s happy with himself now. Cole starts to get upset, telling Summer that the last thing he wanted to do was ruin their friendship. Summer looks at him sheepishly, saying that’s a shame because that’s exactly what he did. She then storms out of the room, leaving an anxious Cole in her wake. Cole tells the viewers that he knew that, no matter what he did, somebody would be pissed off; however, Summer’s anger towards him is far beyond what he could have expected.

Knowing that she voted against him, Hayden approaches Summer in her HOH room to make sure that they’re still good alliance-wise. He also knows that Summer called him expendable and wanted him to go home badly, but he hopes that she comes around with only a few rounds left in the game. In the room, Summer apologizes to Hayden for voting for him and targeting him to go, realizing now that she was being misguided. She tells him that she feels really betrayed by Cole, who promised to vote him out and then went back on his word. When Hayden hears this, he gets really concerned - did Cole really promise to vote him out? Sensing what he’s thinking, Summer clarifies that Cole really did promise to vote Hayden out, stating that it’s evidence that he isn’t trustworthy at all. Hayden says that he feels like he trusts her more now, since she’s at least honest about her intentions. Because of this, the two allies agree to take each other to the finals.

Together, Hayden and Summer come up with a plan to get rid of Cole, arguing that he would be more likely to win the Final HOH than Jenna. Summer will nominate Cole and Jenna, acting like Jenna is her target. However, at the end of the day, Hayden will instead cast the vote for Cole to go. The plan is foolproof too: if Cole manages to win POV, he would vote Jenna out instead, keeping Hayden in the game. If Jenna wins POV, she would almost definitely vote Cole out because he’s a bigger threat than Hayden is. Hayden and Summer are unaware of Cole and Jenna’s deal, though. In the DR, Hayden says that he feels bad plotting against Cole, who he’s promised multiple times to take to the end. However, he feels justified in knowing that Cole either plotted against him first or is a pathological liar. He smiles to himself, feeling like everybody wants to take him to the end now that Veronica is gone.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Summer explains for the final time how the ceremony will work. She will turn the first key, revealing the first nominee. Then, she’ll turn the second key to reveal her second nominee. Summer then turns her first key, revealing Jenna as one of the nominees. Not at all shocked to be nominated, Jenna sits happily down in the familiar nomination chair. Summer turns her second key, revealing Cole as the other nominee. Cole expected to be nominated after Summer’s blow-up at him, so he too sits happily down beside Jenna. Summer simply explains that she nominated who she believes are the two biggest threats, admitting that the POV will decide everything regardless. With that, the Nomination Ceremony is adjourned.

After being nominated, Jenna talks with Summer to confirm that she is the target for the week, telling her that she doesn’t really care and wants honesty more than anything. Summer confesses to her that she’s actually targeting Cole to go home, since he’s proven himself to not only be untrustworthy, but also is a huge competition threat. Jenna is shocked, asking her if she’s actually serious. Summer nods, telling her that Hayden is also in on the plan. In the DR, Jenna tells the viewers that she’s disgusted to hear that Hayden is trying to get rid of the guy who stuck his neck out to save him, hoping for his sake that he’s lying to Summer about wanting Cole out. Still, Jenna is happy that she has at least some chance of staying even if she loses the POV.

Despite this, Jenna warns Cole (mainly to stir chaos) that not only is Summer targeting him, but Hayden is allegedly in on the plan as well. Cole isn’t very surprised that Summer is targeting him, but wonders why on Earth Hayden would want him out after the previous week. Jenna shrugs, stating that Summer must have told him something really convincing to get him on board. That, or Hayden is giving Summer false hope. Cole tells the viewers that he’s really concerned Summer spilled the fact that he lied about wanting Hayden gone, but framed it as a truthful statement. Jenna suggests that he talks with Hayden about what happened to try and make amends with him, or it’s very likely that he’ll be walking out the door. Cole glances at Jenna for a second before sprinting out of the room to find Hayden and fix the situation before it can grow even further out of control.

Cole practically drags Hayden into one of the bedrooms, telling him that he’s heard very concerning news that he’s targeting him to go home. When Hayden stares at the ground while denying the allegations, Cole knows that they are true. Instead of trying to argue strategically in his favor, Cole throws Hayden’s own words back in his face, telling Hayden how much he values his friendship and how he’s always been there for him. He states he’s confident he’ll make the right decision, smiles, and leaves the room. Hayden tells the viewers that he has no idea how Cole found out about the plan, but he states that Cole’s reaction to it makes him unsure if he wants to follow through. Cole may have agreed to a plan against him to save face, but he’s also supported him through thin and thick, on a personal and strategic level. If Hayden were to break that bond apart, he’d never be able to forgive himself - even if the move helps him to win the game. Hayden does realize that he needs to play strategically instead of emotionally, but feels like he almost can’t even bring himself to vote Cole out of the game.

There is no Veto Player Pick - since only four houseguests remain, Hayden will automatically join Summer, the HOH, and Cole and Jenna, the nominees, in competing in the fourteenth and final Power of Veto competition of the season. The competition is long, intense, and taxing; towards the end of it, all of the houseguests are burnt out and stressed about losing and potentially going home. In the end, Hayden manages to beat out the rest and wins the final POV of the season. Summer high-fives him, whispering to him to stick to the plan. Cole notices this and hopes, prays that Hayden honors their friendship, especially after he just saved Hayden.

Immediately after the POV competition, the Veto Ceremony is held, where Hayden announces his obvious decision to not use the Power of Veto on either nominee, leaving Cole and Jenna as the final nominees for the week. Immediately after the ceremony, Matt tells the houseguests that Hayden will cast his sole vote to evict right then and there; Cole and Jenna both have the chance, though, to give a short speech on why they should stay. Cole reiterates to Hayden how much he’s valued their friendship throughout the game, not even asking for his vote or giving any strategic reason to vote Jenna out. Jenna, on the other hand, goes on and on about how big of a physical and social threat Cole is and how Hayden has no chance of winning against him. Once she finishes, Hayden stands and delivers the following speech:

“Cole. This game has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. There have been many highs and many, many lows. Through it all, though, there was one common factor: you. You were always on my side through everything, cheering me on, consoling me, and congratulating me. Jenna is absolutely right that you’re a threat, but I don’t give a damn. I’m sorry, Summer. I’m sorry, Jenna. But I can’t bring myself to vote Cole out, especially when he’s stuck his neck out for me countless times. That’s why I’m voting to evict you, Jenna, from the House.”

Summer stares at Hayden in disbelief as Jenna stands up and hugs the other three houseguests goodbye. She thanks all of them for a great experience, even though she’s leaving just short of the half-million dollar prize. She promises them she has no hard feelings towards anybody before she grabs her things and leaves the House as the eighth member of the jury. As she does so, Summer can’t help but shake her head at the result of the vote.

Votes for Jenna: Hayden

Votes for Cole: --

Week 12

Episode 35 Part 1 (Final HOH/Eviction)

After Jenna’s dramatic eviction, the final three houseguests gather in the living room, where they are addressed by Matt. He tells them that, tomorrow, they will begin competing in the final HOH competition of the season, which consists of three parts. Before that, though, he asks them to get dressed in their nicest clothes. He announces that they will be receiving some help - as he talks, the doorbell rings. Excitedly, Hayden rushes upstairs as Cole and Summer, both still processing the vote, walk silently side-by-side to greet whoever is trying to come in the House. Hayden pulls the door open; when he does so, he’s greeted with two familiar faces: Sebastian from Big Brother 4 and Kellan from Big Brother 3. The two houseguests let the final three know that they’ll be assisting them in getting dressed for the dinner later that night, where they’ll be reminiscing on the past eleven weeks inside the Big Brother House.

After getting prepped and ready, the final three says their goodbyes to the two temporary guests before sitting down for what is easily the best dinner they’ve had so far in the game. Despite being upset with Jenna’s eviction, Summer still laughs along with Cole and Hayden, and all three of them have a good time. They are shown highlights of the past 11 weeks, including Luke’s house meeting where he called out Irene, embarrassing videos of the final three, and the funniest moments of the game. Also included is Cole coming out to the House; when this is shown, both Hayden and Summer smile at him, glad that he opened up to them when he did. Once the video finishes, Cole jokes that, while he hates both of them and calls them crazy, he’s grown to love his time in the House. This makes Hayden and Summer laugh, who realize that, despite any drama between them, they couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be the final three.

The next day, Summer asks Hayden for an explanation behind his move to evict Jenna. Hayden apologizes to Summer for ruining her plan, stating that he just couldn’t bring himself to vote Cole out because of the close friendship they have. Summer is surprisingly understanding towards him, but also states that his move likely ruined both of their chances of winning unless one of them can become the final HOH and vote Cole out. Summer warns Hayden that Cole is very likely to win a jury vote, so he absolutely needs to vote him out if he wins. Hayden nods along with the plan, but is just as unsure about it as he was the previous round. He tells the viewers that it’s getting harder and harder to vote people out as time goes on, since he’s grown so close to the few houseguests that remain. Summer says in the DR that, if Hayden screws her over again, there’s no way in Hell he’s getting her jury vote.

Later on, Cole, Hayden, and Summer face off in the first part of the final HOH competition. As soon as the endurance-based competition begins, it is clear that none of the competitors will be budging for a long time. After many hours, however, Hayden begins to lose focus and slips off his platform, leaving Cole and Summer as the last two competitors remaining in Part 1. Hours pass by without either competitor budging. In the end, though, Cole manages to outlast Summer and wins the first part of the final HOH competition, automatically advancing to Part 3. He celebrates in the DR, suspecting that he’ll get voted out if he doesn’t win the Final HOH competition. He hopes that Hayden can beat Summer in Part 2, which will give him a better chance of making it to the end.

A few hours later, Hayden and Summer duel in Part 2 of the Final HOH competition, which is puzzle-based. Both of them race to complete the puzzle before the other, even though they both agreed to each other to vote Cole out if one of them won Part 3. Despite Hayden’s skill in puzzle-based competitions, Summer is much more motivated than he is and manages to overtake him. In the end, she completes her puzzle first and wins Part 2, advancing onto Part 3 against Cole. Hayden, for losing both Part 1 and Part 2, is automatically a nominee for eviction. In the DR, he tells the audience that he believes Cole and Summer would vote each other out if they won, so he feels relatively safe despite being a nominee.

On finale night, Day 92, Cole and Summer, friends turned adversaries, battle against each other in the third and final part of the final HOH competition of the season. This competition tests how well they know the jurors that have fallen before them by giving them a series of unfinished statements and asking them to predict how the juror in question completed the statement. After eight questions, whoever has the most correct will win Part 3 and become the Final HOH of the season. Both Cole and Summer played great socially and are very focused - therefore, they both get all eight questions correct. This results in a tiebreaker, which Cole very narrowly wins. Cole leaps for joy at having won the competition, while a somber Summer realizes that her game is likely coming to a close.

Back inside the House, Cole is asked to cast his vote to evict either Hayden or Summer from the House. Before that, though, each of the nominees is given a chance to give their pitch as to why they should stay. Hayden follows Cole’s strategy of bringing up their friendship since Day 1 when he offered Hayden a bed to sleep in. He also refers to Summer as a competition, strategic, and social threat. Summer goes next, calling Hayden’s social game impeccable and begging Cole not to underestimate him. Cole stands up and gives the following speech:

“I love both of you guys to death, no matter what may have happened during the game. This decision is unbelievably hard for me. I need to go with my gut here and pick the person I not only think I can beat in the finals, but also the person who I have promised would sit beside me in the finale since the very first night of this game. That person is Hayden, which means Summer, I’m so, so sorry, but I have to vote for you to leave.”

Summer hugs Cole goodbye, obviously upset to be voted out so close to the end. She also gives a hearty hug to Hayden, telling him that she’s really going to miss spending time with him inside the House. After grabbing her things, Summer gives the two men a somber wave goodbye before leaving the House as the ninth and final member of the jury. When she leaves, Cole and Hayden give each other a high-five, ecstatic that they managed to make it all the way to the end of the game together.

Votes for Summer: Cole

Votes for Hayden: --

Finale

Episode 35 Part 2 (Jury Vote)

After Summer’s eviction, Cole and Hayden are given a few moments to gather themselves and prepare for the jury questioning that is to happen in the next few minutes. Hayden thanks Cole wholeheartedly for keeping him in the game; Cole shrugs, saying that he did the same thing during the final four. Both of them are really glad that they’re the final two, since they had been talking about it since the very first day of the game. Eventually, Matt comes back onto the screen, announcing that the jury questioning will begin right then and there.

From the get-go, it appears that there is strong support among the jurors for Cole, believing he played an excellent game overall. Ashley praises him for somehow managing to convince people to keep him around when they really shouldn’t have, citing her HOH during the second Double Eviction in particular. Jenna also shows strong support for Cole, glad that he still talked with her and strategized with her when she was all alone in the House. Scott joins his former allies in supporting Cole as the winner, specifically citing the time that Cole showed respect to him despite targeting him for eviction Week 1. He believes that Cole showed a similar respect towards everybody in the game, and thus deserves to win the money.

Hayden is not without support, though. Luke and Veronica both mention Hayden’s great social game and how kind he was to everybody no matter what they said about him behind his back. While they agree that Cole also played a good game, they urge their fellow jurors not to dismiss Hayden so quickly. Summer in particular gives a passionate speech, criticizing Cole for his lying throughout the game. He asks Cole if lying is his go-to to get further in life, or if he just applied it while in the House because he didn’t know any other way to advance his game. Cole defends his game decisions and apologizes to her for hurting her as a result of his occasional dishonesty, but he isn’t sure if Summer accepted the apology.

The votes are cast and tallied. Cole and Hayden are both very nervous for the results, feeling like the other finalist got the votes and will win. After what feels like an eternity for the two finalists, Matt finally begins to reveal the votes.

Cole and Hayden both exit the House after 92 long days, with Hayden congratulating Cole on his triumphant victory. Cole runs into his family’s arms, who are all very proud of him for winning the game. After the celebration dies down, Matt thanks everybody who followed the season from the beginning and the cast for providing an exciting and unpredictable game. He then announces that Big Brother 6 will begin in four days - and the houseguests must expect the unexpected like never before.